


Coffee and Beer

by Fangirl_on_a_bicycle



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Beer, Bicycles, Coffee, Cunnilingus, F/F, Hair-pulling, Karaoke, Kissing, Light Bondage, Masturbation, Portland Oregon, Vaginal Fingering, but you really should go to powell's bookstore, trying not to basically write a portland tour guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2018-07-28 09:46:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7635541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle/pseuds/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day I thought to myself, "Hah, wouldn't it be funny if Amethyst and Peridot were humans and lived in Portland?" And then I couldn't stop giggling over it. And then I decided to write it. </p><p>I've lived in Portland for over ten years, and the suburbs thereof for another ten more before that. I love it here, so why not have my OTP live here too?</p><p>I promise this will not become a Crystal Gems version of Portlandia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beer and Karaoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic wouldn't have happened without three people.
> 
> The first one is Roane72, who was so excited for me when I said I was finally writing fanfiction. Her encouragement means the world to me.
> 
> The second one is Anarfea, who beta'ed this after I sent her an all-caps request on tumblr, and who said mostly nice things about this chapter. (I have learned that I use far too many commas.)
> 
> Lastly my boyfriend, who lets me bounce ideas off of him, frequently lends me his laptop, and is just so supportive and encouraging. And who watched Steven Universe with me in the first place!

"I'll have the IPA, and keep my tab open, thanks!" The bartender, a tall, muscular, blonde woman with vitiligo, handed the pint glass to Peridot, who took a fortifying sip or three before turning around in her seat at the bar.

Portlanders loved karaoke, she'd read; but it was another thing to be in a divey bar-slash-Chinese restaurant on the industrial edge of town on a Saturday night; and see it packed with people, mostly in their 20's and 30's, drinking and chatting and flipping through large binders of song lists, while a young man at the mic butchered a Matchbox 20 song. Peridot hid her cringe with another swallow of beer. She wanted to meet new people and make friends in her new city that weren't from work, but a room full of people who all seemed to know each other was intimidating.

The song mercifully ended to a sprinkling of polite applause, and the KJ announced the next singer. "Amethyst! Amethyst to the mic!" A young, short, heavy-set woman in her late 20’s, with a wild, curly mane of pale lilac hair down to her ass stood up with a smirk on her face. A number of people in the bar cheered and applauded, but none more than the other two women she'd been sitting with.

Peridot's face heated: Amethyst was HOT. She had on a short, black, sleeveless dress with purple trim, gray tights, and worn white ankle boots; and as she crossed the room to the mic, both her ass and hair swayed. She grabbed the mic off its stand and turned to face the room, swinging all that hair behind her shoulders with a hand and surveying the room with a satisfied look.

Let's go to the beach, each  
Let's go get away  
They say, what they gonna say?  
Have a drink, clink, found the bud light  
Bad bitches like me, is hard to come by

Unfortunately, Peridot was in the process of taking another drink when the song started, because she laughed so suddenly that she choked a little when she remembered the only reason the song was familiar: it was in a sci-fi fanvid she'd watched hundreds of times. It was still the only Nicki Minaj song she owned.

She grabbed a napkin from the bar and dabbed at her face and leggings. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice; they were too busy watching Amethyst, and with good reason. She wasn't looking at the lyrics on the screen at all but still kept up flawlessly, performing the song as if it had always been hers, and several people even got up to dance, drunkenly waving their arms around and shouting along with the chorus. Amethyst's voice wasn't anything like Nicki's, much rougher and almost gravelly, and it gave a different edge to the song. Amethyst was enjoying herself, weaving the mic cord through her fingers as she moved to the beat, and Peridot took another drink as her eyes lingered on Amethyst's plump curves, tan skin, and impish face, all topped with that wild hair.

The song ended and the entire bar burst into applause and whooping. Amethyst dropped into an exaggerated curtsy, placed the mic back into the stand, and hi-fived the KJ before slowly making her way to the back bar, smiling and chatting with people as she went, and another singer was called up and started into She Loves You, with half the bar singing along.

Amethyst walked up to the bar, and the bartender was already pouring a pint of cheap lager to hand over. Amethyst took it with a smile. "Thanks, Jasper."

Peridot blurted out, "You were really great up there!"

Amethyst turned to Peridot with a wicked grin and one eyebrow raised. "Oh? Is that why you choked on your beer when I started singing?"

_Oh god, let the earth swallow me whole_ . "Ah, uh, the song just reminded me of something else, and I was surprised."

"Sure, I believe you."

********

Garnet and Pearl were always getting after Amethyst for picking up patrons at the bar where she KJ'ed and bartended part-time, but come on, it was fun, and she didn't get the opportunity every night. The New York Times had written about the bar last summer as part of a longer article about Portland's karaoke scene (including a nice big photo of Amethyst herself singing, which was now stuck on the fridge at home, as well as behind the bar). But ever since, there were frequently customers who were new in town or on vacation, and every now and then there was a woman who was single and into ladies: jackpot. Especially after she'd pretty much dated (or at least slept with) nearly all the women in her social circles. It was enough to make a girl miss being in college.

Amethyst knew she probably shouldn't tease the woman who arrived at the bar alone looking nervous, but it was just too easy, and she was just too cute! Amethyst spotted her when she walked in: messy wavy blonde hair in a bob, big round glasses, stripy scarf, green blouse, black leggings, ballet flats. Looked about the same age as Amethyst. After she'd spit beer on herself at the start of the song, the girl had glanced up at Amethyst several times as she'd cleaned herself up, and then just stared as she'd nursed her drink. Definitely at least a little queer, then. Does she even know she chews her bottom lip that much? It makes her canine teeth look like little fangs. It's just too fucking adorable.

And now, at the bar, Amethyst finally had the chance to return the favor, openly giving her the up-and down. Not much on top, but a small waist that curved to wider hips and thighs. Which meant a high probability of a nice ass. Excellent.

Amethyst looked her in the face again--she was definitely blushing now. And doing the lip bitey thing. "Hi. I'm Amethyst."

"Peridot."

"Nice to meet you, Peridot! So do you plan to nurse that one drink all night or are you going to actually sing at some point?"

Honestly, could this girl blush any harder? "This one's almost done. Might as well get another. There's no way I have the nerve to sing yet."

Amethyst waved down Jasper. "Another IPA please."

"Yeah no problem."

Once the drink was in Peridot's hand, Amethyst said, "Y'know, if you want to sing at all tonight, you should probably put in your request now. The list gets long pretty fast on a Saturday night."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Peridot looked around for a song list.

"Come sit with me and my friends; we have the most recently updated list!"

"Okay, sure." Peridot smiled and slid off the seat, beer in one hand, coat and handbag in the other, and followed Amethyst. Oh yeah. This was gonna be easy.

*****

What the hell. People in this city were friendly, but usually not... _this_ friendly. Amethyst stopped at the end of a long table where two women were sitting, leaning towards each other in intense conversation.

"Pearl and Garnet, this is Peridot. She needs to look at the song list." Amethyst plopped into a seat and gestured towards the empty chair across from her. The other two women--Pearl and Garnet, apparently, but which one was which?--looked up and nodded at her absentmindedly before leaning in again.

Amethyst rolled her eyes and reached in between them to grab the large binder, and handed it to Peridot. Peridot found the song she wanted, but before she could ask for a slip of paper and a pencil, Amethyst turned to the woman next her, a tall black woman with an afro, wearing skinny high-waisted jeans, a pink-and-black striped crop top, and sunglasses even though the light was relatively dim in the bar.

Amethyst bumped shoulders with her. "Garnet! Garnet!"

Garnet's voice was low, with an English accent. "Yes, Amethyst?"

"Wanna do Monster? You can do the Nicki Minaj part."

"Not tonight. I think Pearl and I might head home early.”

“Aw man, really?”

“My classes today were exhausting. And I sang with you earlier.”

“True.” Amethyst stood up and grabbed song request slips off the table next to theirs. Turning back to Peridot, she said, “We do American Boy a lot. Garnet sounds fantastic!” She handed a slip, plus a pencil stub to Peridot, who scribbled down her song request. Amethyst did the same and held out her hand. "I'll take them up."

Peridot hesitated a moment.

"I'll know what it is when you sing it, y’know."

True enough. She handed it over and Amethyst read it and smiled.

"Oh man, that's gonna be awesome." And she walked off, leaving Peridot with Garnet and Pearl. They'd stopped talking to each other, and were mostly looking at her sideways. She picked up her drink and watched the current singer, who was doing a reasonably adequate David Byrne impression to Once in a Lifetime. Nearby, Amethyst was chatting with the KJ in his booth, leaning into his ear to say something, then pulling back and giggling. He quickly looked over at Peridot and then back to Amethyst with a smile.

Peridot’s face heated for what must be the thousandth time in a single night, and she hid it by taking another drink of her beer.

Garnet stood up. "I'm going to pay our tab; Pearl, did you want anything else?"

"Yeah, I'll have a vodka tonic." Then: awkward silence.  

It was Peridot's turn to look at Pearl sideways. Everything about Pearl was tall and thin, down to her pointy nose and long fingers. Her severely-straight, strawberry-blonde hair was in an angled bob with pinned-back bangs. An intricate tattoo of vines and pink roses started at her left wrist and ended just at her neck, only partially covered by her sea-foam green, flared dress.

Peridot turned to Pearl and put on a confident face she didn't feel. "So. How do you know Amethyst?"

"We've been roommates for several years."

"Oh."

“You know Amethyst’s hitting on you, right?”

“I think I figured that out, yeah. Why, is there something I should know?”

“I’m not her girlfriend or her ex, if that’s what you’re asking. But….she does this. Picks up girls here. Frequently.”

“Maybe I came here to be picked up.” It wasn’t completely true, but what business was it of Pearl’s?

Pearl finally looked towards Peridot. “So….where are you from?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Pearl poked at the object sticking out of Peridot’s handbag and smirked. “Locals don’t often carry umbrellas. I’m surprised Amethyst hasn’t teased you about it yet. Anyway, everyone is from somewhere.”

“But it rains most days! It’s just easier to leave it in there...Minnesota, originally. You?”

Pearl looked away. “Iowa.”

“Where in Iowa?”  
  
Pearl shrugged. “Middle of nowhere, it doesn’t matter.”

More to herself than anything, Peridot asked, “Is anyone in this city actually from here?”

“Me! I am,” said a voice behind her, and then a soft arm with a star tattoo on the inner forearm reached around her to place another beer on the table, and hair brushed against her neck. Peridot turned with a start and found herself inches away from Amethyst's ample bust. She jerked her head back and looked up at Amethyst's face, the rest of her view blocked by all that hair, and caught the scent of artificial strawberry.

"Ah ha ha, so, uh, I got you another of the same, I hope that's okay. I can have her take it off your tab if you were gonna get something different."

"No!" Peridot squeaked. "That's, that’s fine, thank you." Amethyst slid into the seat next to her this time, with a beer of her own in her other hand.

Garnet handed Pearl her drink as she sat down. “Estacada is not Portland, Amethyst.”

“No, but my mom’s side came here in covered wagons on the honest-to-god Oregon Trail, and I used to take the bus into Portland when I could in high school. That shit takes two fucking hours each way. At least I’m from Oregon. My uncles dress like lumberjacks because they were actually loggers.” And she stuck her tongue out.

Peridot couldn’t help but giggle. “Well, I’m originally from Duluth, Minnesota.”

“Oh man. I could not handle the winters there. No goddamn way. I’ll take drizzly rain for months over snow, no question.”

“Pearl! Next is Pearl at the mic!” Pearl sucked down the rest of her drink in one go, walked to the front of the bar, and adjusted the mic stand for her height.

The song title came up, along with the sound of a pennywhistle, and next to Peridot, Amethyst groaned under her breath. "Oh god, I fucking knew it."

Every night in my dreams  
I see you, I feel you,  
That is how I know you go on

Peridot blinked in shock. Pearl was a fantastic singer, but jesus, what a choice of song. Most of the bar fell quiet as they, too, turned and stared at Pearl. She wasn't hamming it up or singing it with a wink, she meant every word, looking into the middle distance and emoting as though her life depended on it. Within two verses her eyes were shiny and wet.

Amethyst sighed loudly. Garnet turned back and looked at her, and quietly said, "Have some sympathy, Amethyst."

"I do, okay, but we lost Rose too, y'know, and we don't get sad about it so damn publicly."

"It's not the same thing and you know it."

"Yeah, whatever.”

Pearl was giving it her all, holding onto the mic stand as if it was the only thing holding her up. Peridot glanced over at Amethyst, who had pulled into herself, hiding most of her face behind her hair, hunched over her phone. Peridot honestly didn't know if she should say anything.

Garnet saved her. “Pearl is still grieving a relationship that ended. She finds that singing is a good way of expressing her feelings.”

Amethyst looked up. “You mean she’s still sad that her girlfriend of more than ten years--the whole reason she fucking left her shitty family in the first place--basically dumped her for some dude she’d just met, got knocked up almost immediately, and moved to the coast six months ago; and Pearl’s too neurotic to actually, I dunno, _talk_ about it, so instead she drinks and sings Celine Dion or some other over-emotional crap every time she’s here.”

“I suppose that’s another way of putting it, yes,” Garnet shrugged.

“Pearl used to be more fun,” Amethyst said to Peridot, “but she was just generally happier and more chill about shit when Rose was still around. Sorry, I didn’t mean to just, like, drop you into our drama.”

“It’s fine, really.” What else was Peridot going to say?

The song ended and the bar broke into wild applause, and Pearl wiped her face and sniffled her way back to her seat. The next person called to the mic looked reluctant to follow that up with a Katy Perry song.

Garnet touched Pearl's arm. "You doing okay?"

Pearl offered a watery smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks." She pulled a bicycle helmet and keys out of the large bag at her feet and put them on the table. “Garnet, are you ready to go? The bike rack was full, and I’m locked up to you.” Garnet was already zipping up a black nylon jacket with a hood, and pulled her own keys out of her jacket pocket.

"Poor Pearl, gotta get up early to teach fencing to kids in the suburbs," but Amethyst's expression was affectionate.

Pearl's smile in response was genuine. "Yup!"

Peridot couldn’t help giggling at the mental image of children in fencing gear. "Are any of them any good at it?"

"Some of them are, especially the older ones. But the younger ones really do mostly just want to poke and stab and chase each other." Pearl pulled a hideous yellow rain jacket trimmed with reflective tape out of her bag, and as she zipped it up and put her bicycle helmet on she said, “Peridot, it was nice to meet you. Amethyst, get home safe, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine.” Garnet and Pearl left, and Amethyst turned to face Peridot.

And that’s when Peridot heard her name being called by the KJ.

“Peridot! Peridot to the mic!”

She stood up so fast her chair squawked on the floor. Okay. She could do this. She’d sung this in her apartment so many times. She made it to the mic without incident, took it off the stand, and turned to face the bar. Whoa. That was a lot of people.

Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy  
Grab my glasses, I'm out the door; I'm gonna hit this city  
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack  
'Cause when I leave for the night, I ain't coming back

Peridot thought she’d be more nervous than this, was it the beer? Was it that Amethyst whooped when she started singing? Or that before the first verse was over, people started dancing? When the chorus repeated, she ventured a look away from the monitor. Amethyst had worked her way to the front of the people dancing and was facing Peridot, lip syncing along as she bounced from side to side. Which might or might not be why Peridot was a half-beat late for her next entrance, and looked back up at the lyrics on the monitor to keep herself from being distracted again, and smiled the hardest she had all night.

****

Things had been awkward for a bit, sure; but now that it was over, Peridot was clearly having a better time, and Amethyst was maybe a little smitten. Who knew Peridot had it in her? Her voice wasn’t anything to write home about, but she could keep up with the song and dance along and enjoy herself up there with a mic in her hand. And as she’d gone up to sing, Amethyst finally got confirmation: Peridot’s ass was even better than expected. Wait. That gave her an idea. This was gonna be great.

The song ended and Peridot laughed and bowed a few times before putting the mic in the stand, then looked into the crowd, spotted Amethyst, and ran over. “Oh man! That was so much fun!”

“Was that your first time singing karaoke? Because shit girl, you killed it!” Peridot did the lip-bitey thing again while smiling. Jesus.

They each got another beer, and as they sat down, Amethyst said, “Okay, I want to sing together, and I know we can get one more song in, and I have an idea.” She pulled the binder over, flipped to the song in question, and pointed to it.

“What?? No. I don’t think I know that one well enough.”  
  
“No, but I do! If we’re up there together it won’t matter. Plus everyone always sings along with that one, especially this late in the night. It’s either that one or, like, Don’t Stop Believin’.”

“Noooooooo!”

“Hey now, I have heard that song nearly every night I’ve worked here. It’s a karaoke standard. And it’s fun when everyone’s drunk and singing along, trust me.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it. Fine, we’ll go with your first idea.” After Amethyst had taken the song request slip to the KJ and come back, Peridot asked, “You work here?”

“Yeah, I work most weeknights, either as a KJ or behind the bar. I started while I was still at Portland State, just a night or two a week, but after I graduated Mr. Smiley let me take on more hours. My degree’s in art. Bartending pays better than the shit I sell on etsy or the Last Thursday street fair. The hours are flexible and I like doing it, plus; the people here are like family by now, almost.” She gestured towards the bar, then the KJ booth. “Jasper’s from Estacada too; our families have known each other forever. And the KJ tonight, Jamie, he does theater stuff.

“What about you?” Amethyst put her elbow on the table and leaned on one hand, bringing her glass up with the other. Peridot did the same.

“I only moved here a few months ago. I’m a software engineer; I work downtown. I grew up in Duluth and went to school in Minneapolis, and then I was in the Bay Area in California for a few years. And you were right, earlier; the winters in Minnesota are hell, but the summers are too, y’know, all that humidity. And the bugs. So many bugs.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Hell, we don’t even have A/C in our house. But I live in the basement anyway, so it’s not so bad when it’s hot.”

Two dudes at the mic started singing Girls and Boys by Blur. Amethyst laughed. “I love this song, but it’s terrible for karaoke!” She looked back at Peridot, who smiled and bit her lip.

“Did you know you constantly nibble on your bottom lip?”

Peridot’s face colored. “Yeah. I mean, I logically know I do, but I don’t realize I’m doing it. It makes it impossible to wear lipstick; I gave up on that years ago.”

“It’s really cute, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Amethyst leaned forward and reached up, slowly enough to give Peridot a chance to back away, and then traced her thumb over Peridot’s bottom lip. “It makes it hard not to stare at your mouth every time you do it.” Peridot inhaled, swallowed, licked her lips, just barely, never taking her eyes off Amethyst’s.

“Can I kiss you?” Amethyst asked. Peridot’s eyes widened, then she nodded, just barely.

****

Amethyst’s lips were so perfectly plush it was obscene. Peridot could smell the cheap beer she’d been drinking, the artificial strawberry from her hair, a hint of her sweat. That first kiss was brief, but it was followed by several more, and Peridot knew she wanted more, and as soon as possible. She was dizzy with the beer and the kiss and the music and it was amazing. She couldn’t believe her luck.

And then then Jamie announced their names, because of course he did.

Amethyst grabbed her hand and pulled her up, Jamie handed her the other mic, and they turned to the room. A few people were speaking along with the intro already. She took a deep breath and looked at the monitor in borderline-horror.

I like big butts and I can not lie  
You other brothers can't deny  
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist  
And a round thing in your face  
You get sprung!

She did her best to keep up, but she couldn’t stop giggling. Meanwhile Amethyst not only had the song memorized, but was looking at Peridot and waggling her eyebrows. Peridot looked at the monitor and managed a few more lines before looking back at Amethyst and dissolving into laughter again. Amethyst stepped closer and put an arm around her waist, and that’s when Peridot realized two things: first, they were almost exactly the same height, and two, Amethyst was singing this to her, not as a performance to the room, despite the microphone. Oh my god.

As if Amethyst didn’t have a nice ass. Whatever. She totally did. Even if Peridot couldn’t keep up with a song about it. Peridot wasn’t even trying to do the song anymore, happy to be this close to Amethyst. Just as the song ended, Peridot leaned in a little, kissed Amethyst on the cheek, and grabbed her butt. Amethyst turned and kissed her on the lips again.

“Okay you two, seriously, get a room,” said Jamie, as a few people in the bar whooped their approval.

Amethyst put her mouth to Peridot’s ear. “Wanna go somewhere else?” Peridot nodded. Yeah, she did. She really did.

Peridot went to the bar to pay her tab, catching her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Was she really going to do this? Why the fuck not? Better than meeting people at work, god.

She stepped outside in the cool, damp air, and barely had a chance to look around before she was backed up against the outside wall, Amethyst’s lips on hers, Amethyst’s body pressed against her, Amethyst’s hair everywhere. Peridot could feel her arousal skyrocket.

“Ah! Ah! Wait!” Amethyst pulled away with a look of concern that Peridot could barely make out through her fogged glasses, and she shivered at the sudden lack of warmth.

“What?”

“I, uh, I was gonna take an Uber home; I’m on southeast Division. I have a roommate but she’s not home until tomorrow.”

“Fuck that, I’m only two and a half miles from here, in Kenton, come to my place, I gotta walk my dog anyway. But I rode my bicycle.”

“We could put it in the back of an Uber?”

Amethyst looked thoughtful, then a “eureka!” expression crossed her face.

“Wanna ride on the back of my bike? On the rear rack?”

“What?”

“Yeah! People do it in Amsterdam all the time; I’ve seen photos and shit. It always looks so romantic. I know my bicycle is up to it, I carry groceries and bags of dog food on it.”

Peridot’s expression was clearly skeptical. Amethyst was not deterred. “Let’s just try it around the parking lot and see?”

“Okay, but if it doesn’t work I’m getting us an Uber.”

“Yessss!” Amethyst pulled her hair into a messy bun, as she walked over to her bicycle and unlocked it. It didn’t look up to the weight of two humans, but what did Peridot know?

“Okay, you have two options: sidesaddle, or one leg on each side.”

“One leg on each side.” Amethyst stood over the top tube, one foot on the pedal. Peridot swung her leg over the rear rack, tucked her scarf into her jacket, adjusted her handbag across her chest, and slowly sat down. There wasn’t any ominous squeaking, so that was a good sign.

Amethyst started pedaling, slowly. Peridot pulled up her legs and held on best she could. There was one small wobble before she got enough momentum, and Amethyst went just around the lot, as promised. She turned her head slightly to the side. “You okay back there?”

“Yeah. Let’s go!”

“You got it!”

They pulled out of the small parking lot just as it went from “misty” to “actually raining.” Peridot fumbled in her bag, pulled out her umbrella, and held it to the side as she opened it with with a pop, then held it over their heads.

“Is that a god damn umbrella?”  
  
“Yes! It’s raining!”

And Amethyst just laughed, as they rode off into the night.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to god the end notes won't always be this long.
> 
> The karaoke bar is based on a real place, Chopsticks III: How Can Be Lounge. The NYT really did an article about Portland's karaoke scene, in 2013. I've gone to karaoke twice this month, but at a different bar.
> 
> The fanvid of Starships that Peridot was reminded of when Amethyst sang is this one:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGdGKEEiYE  
> (Which makes this my second fic where Peridot watches Amethyst sing Nicki Minaj and nearly does the anime nosebleed.)
> 
> Pearl sang My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, in case it's not obvious, and I even wrote that before Mr. Greg aired.
> 
> Peridot sang Kesha's Tik Tok, for two reasons. One is a (now deleted, alas) tweet from Lauren Zuke, where she said something like, "I don't care if I get in trouble for this, Peridot likes Kesha."  
> But in-story, the reason Peridot knows the song is this Star Trek fanvid:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZWaWrvJ7nA
> 
> Girls and Boys by Blur is a fun song to dance or flirt or kiss to, but it truly is terrible for karaoke, and I know because I tried it once:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWnH-yb6-o
> 
> If you're having trouble picturing Peridot on the back of Amethyst's bicycle, do an image search for "Amsterdam bicycle passenger."
> 
> This will earn its Explicit rating in the next chapter, at which point I will also update the tags.
> 
> I'm on tumblr as aprillikesthings!
> 
> EDIT: This chapter got fan art! It's awesome! <3!  
> http://amethystp-diddles.tumblr.com/post/157403372334/amedotbomb-prompt-karaoke-based-off-of
> 
> EDIT: As of March of 2018, Chopsticks III is closing! Dang.


	2. Neckties and Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly smut, as promised. Tags have been (and will continue to be) updated. 
> 
> Many thanks again to anarfea, who took a look at this chapter despite having a lot of other things on her plate; and the boyfriend, who deals with me staying up until four am typing away in bed when he's sleeping with a minimum of complaining. 
> 
> I feel like I should dedicate this chapter to the many other writers in the Steven Universe fandom, or as I sometimes call it, The Promised Land of Femslash.

This late at night, the streets were nearly empty. Peridot could hear the patter of rain on the umbrella, the swish of the bicycle’s tires on wet asphalt, the chain clicking into place when Amethyst changed gears, the metallic buzz when she coasted. Between her and Amethyst was a companionable silence. After the noise and activity of the bar it was peaceful. The ride was only about fifteen minutes but she almost wished it could be longer--if it weren’t for the discomfort of sitting on a metal bicycle rack, and the strain in her arms from holding the umbrella despite switching hands several times. Amethyst pulled to a stop at the bottom of a paved driveway next to a small, older house, with similar houses on either side.

Amethyst’s voice was low. “We’ll walk up the driveway.” They walked around to the back of the darkened house, where a motion sensor light came on and illuminated a patch of yard with raised garden beds, one of which was growing several kinds of kale. Two bare-branched trees were just inside the aging wooden fence.

Amethyst opened the deadbolt on the back door and Peridot folded up the umbrella. Amethyst flipped on a hall light, then picked up her bicycle and started descending a creaky flight of stairs. Peridot got a glance of a kitchen to the left before being greeted by very happy orange dog with a graying muzzle and pointed ears, a little smaller than a golden retriever, wagging her long tail hard enough to thump the wall and sniffing Peridot. Amethyst took the stairs back up two at a time and said, “Tiger, sit,” and motioned towards her with a flat hand. Tiger sat still until Amethyst pulled a leash off a hook next to the door and clicked it onto her collar. Then it was all happy wagging and pulling. Amethyst said, “Back in a minute, my room’s at the bottom of the stairs and to the right, sorry about the mess,” then gave her a hurried kiss before Tiger pulled her out the door and Amethyst closed it behind herself.

Peridot ventured down the narrow hallway to the basement. At the foot of the stairs was a large finished room, lit by bare bulbs in the ceiling. In the wall to her left there were hooks in the walls, with three bicycles hanging up, another missing a rear wheel and leaning on the wall, a workbench with tools. In the corner were a washer and dryer that looked the same age as Peridot, and a utility sink. To the right was….well, the mess Amethyst had mentioned, she supposed. A bunch of half-done paintings and all that went with it--stained canvas drop cloths, canvases, folded easels. A paint-spattered table with half-empty tubes and bottles and brushes of all sizes. Only a few finished paintings were visible, one of which included what appeared to be Tiger, if she was also a helicopter. Another was of a beautiful woman, taller and heavier than Amethyst, with huge ringlets of red hair past her shoulders and a pink ruffled ball gown, her eyes closed with a serene expression.

Directly to the right of the bottom of the stairs was a wall with a door. Peridot opened it, fumbled for a light switch, and an overhead light came on. It was almost as cluttered as all the painting things. In the right back corner, a wardrobe was open, clothes both in it and (mostly) on the floor in front of it, a towel draped over one door. A desk held an older laptop,  as well as many empty mugs and dirty plates. In front of it was a rickety wooden chair. A large mirror leaned on the wall, and the small table next to it was cluttered with makeup and hair things. Under it was a pile of shoes. On the left wall was a cheap bookcase, shoved so full that the shelves bowed slightly; a dog bed covered in hair; and Amethyst’s unmade bed: a queen mattress on a box spring, purple and lavender bedding. Directly across from the door was a normal-sized window (Peridot assumed it opened to a window well), and under it was a bedside table with drawers, the surface of which held a stack of books, along with a lamp, a few empty beer bottles, a phone charging cable, and….a half-empty bottle of lube. That was what finally made Peridot giggle.

The door upstairs creaked open and shut and the deadlock turned. The water ran in the kitchen for a moment, human and dog footsteps came down the stairs, and Amethyst opened the door to find Peridot standing in the middle of the room, still wearing her coat and scarf and handbag, holding a dripping umbrella, and somehow feeling like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. Amethyst leaned on the door jamb, and Tiger walked around Peridot in circles, sniffing and wagging. Peridot scratched her behind her ears.

“She likes you.”

“Why is she named Tiger?”

“‘Cause she’s orange, I guess? She came from the humane society with that name. Didn’t you, Tiger?” Tiger walked back to Amethyst, then to the dog bed, where she turned around three times and lay down with a pleased huff.

“Is Tiger...uh….”

“Don’t let her excitement at meeting someone new fool you, she’s old and half-deaf...”

“Oh. Okay.”

“...so no, she won’t interrupt us.” This time, Peridot definitely noticed herself biting her lip, and she felt hot all over.  

****

Peridot’s lower lip slid slowly out from her teeth as she looked Amethyst, still in the doorway, up and down, as though seeing her for the first time. Amethyst knew the effect she could have on people, but it was still pleasing when Peridot’s eyes met hers and she looked somehow slightly feral, even through her glasses. Peridot broke eye contact to take off her handbag and drop it on the chair. The umbrella went on the floor next to it. The dark green wool coat went over the back. The stripey scarf was unlooped from her neck and went over the coat. Her ballet flats went next to the umbrella.

Amethyst walked into the room completely and closed the door. She kicked off her dirty white ankle boots into the pile under the makeup table. She crossed the room and switched on the bedside lamp, then walked back and turned off the overhead light. There. Now the room had more of a warm glow. Much better.

When she turned around, Peridot was watching the movement, still standing next to the desk with that hungry look. Amethyst walked over and finally really got a chance to kiss her, pulling her in by her waist. Peridot slid her hands around Amethyst’s neck, and hummed into the kiss. Peridot’s little fangs scraped against Amethyst’s bottom lip. Amethyst slid her tongue in and Peridot moaned. They did a shuffle towards the bed; wet, open-mouthed kisses the whole way. The back of Peridot’s legs met the bed and she fell backward, Amethyst mostly on top of her, their legs tangled together. Amethyst pushed her knee between Peridot’s legs. Peridot started grinding down on her thigh with what leverage she could get, her kisses got sloppier, her moans got louder, and even through the tights and leggings Amethyst could feel heat.

Amethyst pulled away, and Peridot’s eyes opened and focused on hers in confusion.

“Okay, there’s whole floor between us and Garnet and Pearl but this house is old and has no sound insulation and they get up early, and unlike Tiger, their hearing is excellent. So. You have to be kinda quiet. Also you should probably take off your glasses.”

“Oh, okay. Uh, yeah, good idea.” Amethyst stood and Peridot sat up. She took off her glasses, and carefully put them on top of the book pile on the bedside table, then looked back. Amethyst took a sharp breath; without the distortion of her glasses Peridot’s eyes looked bigger. Her face was flushed and her lips were shiny and she was still catching her breath. She looked up at Amethyst through her eyelashes, and the combination was lethal, but then Peridot started talking and Amethyst had to focus. “We, um. Do you want to talk about what you do and don’t like? Like, is there anything specific you prefer versus things that are definitely off the menu, so to speak.”

It was Amethyst’s turn to be confused. “What do you mean?”

Peridot shrugged. “For instance, I only like penetration if I’m really aroused, you can’t go for that first, but if I am really aroused I love it and I can come from g-spot stuff. I like both giving and getting oral. I like being held down or tied up, especially if I can struggle a little, but I’m not super into pain as a rule.”

Amethyst boggled for a moment. “I’m pretty easy, I guess? Mostly just, uh, the usual. And,” deep breath, “I like….hair....stuff?"

"Can you be more specific?"

Amethyst looked away. "I dunno, having it played with? Maybe pulled on. A little."

Peridot smiled. “Well, that’s a start. Your hair is very nice, after all.”

“Yeah?” Amethyst stepped back, reached behind her, took the hair elastic out, let it all fall to her hips. She shook it out a little before reaching for the hem of her dress and pulling it off over her head in one motion, her wild curls falling so that her face was partially hidden. She looked Peridot in the eyes before reaching back and unhooking her bra, pulling it off by the straps to let it drop to the floor, and then leaned forward to pull down her tights, her heavy breasts swaying, and stood back up in just a pair of purple satiny bikini undies.

Peridot swallowed heavily, then sat up and unbuttoned her own blouse with hands made clumsy with hurry, tossing it aside, yanking her stretchy bralette over her head, and wiggling out of her leggings and socks, down to yellow cotton boyshorts. Peridot’s breasts were small and rounded, her nipples hardening in the cool air of the room, her small waist curving out to those generous hips and thighs. She slid down to lay flat on the bed and gestured for Amethyst to join her.

Amethyst swung her hair to one side and moved onto the bed, watching Peridot’s heated expression of anticipation. The moment Amethyst was over her, Peridot reached up to pull her down, kiss her, run a hand through the hair covering her face to push it away. Amethyst shivered, just barely, suddenly breathless, and kissed her harder and deeper, wanting to keep her composure. Peridot moved under her, wrapped her legs around Amethyst’s waist, and clearly didn’t know where to put her hands first--she stroked down Amethyst’s shoulders and arms, grabbed handfuls of her waist, kneaded down the outside of her thighs; before reaching up and cupping as much as she could of Amethyst’s breasts, groaning into the kiss.

She was used to people who liked her body, who found her attractive, but Peridot’s enthusiasm was still disarming. Peridot swiped her thumbs lightly across her nipples and Amethyst gasped, rocked into Peridot, who responded with a whimper. She put her mouth to Peridot’s ear. “Shh,” then sucked her earlobe, just barely, before kissing down her neck to her shoulder, her collarbone, tasting salt and skin and a faint scent of peppermint soap. Amethyst’s hair slid over her skin where her mouth had just been and she took most of a breast into her mouth and sucked, softly. Peridot responded by squeezing Amethyst’s arms hard enough to hurt a little. Amethyst looked up, made eye contact, sucked harder, and Peridot’s mouth dropped open. Jesus, she made the best faces. Amethyst released that side, and moved to the other, still keeping their eyes locked.  

Peridot gasped, then blurted out, “Oh god, please tie my hands up, please, please.”

Holy shit. Amethyst let a nipple slide out of her mouth, slowly, and Peridot’s whole body jerked.

“Yeah, if you want me to, but with what? I don’t have any rope.”

“Do you have a necktie or something? One you don’t mind messing up?”

“I think I do, hold on.” She got up, rummaged through a drawer of her wardrobe, and came back with one she’d worn for a group Halloween costume several years ago: cheap polyester, yellow and black stripes. She sat down, hesitated. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Peridot sat up on her elbows, looked at the tie, then smiled up at her mischievously. “Huh, I would have guessed you were a Gryffindor.”

“Oh, shut up and tell me how to do this.”

“Well, there are books on the subject, and I have some if you’re interested, but for now, just…” Peridot closed her eyes, took a slow, steadying breath, lay back down; and put her arms in front of her, wrist to wrist. “Just wrap it around a few times, fairly loosely, and not over the bony part of my wrist, and then tie it like a shoelace, in a bow so it’s easy to untie.”

Amethyst did, sitting next to her, and thought to herself that some other time, she’d have to take the time to learn to do this properly; Peridot was watching her loop the tie around her wrists through heavy-lidded eyes. _Assuming there is another time. I can’t believe she trusts me this much. Oh fuck, that looks hot_ , even if was loose enough that Peridot could probably wiggle out of it if she really wanted to.

Amethyst tugged on the loops. “Is that okay?”

“Mmmm, yeah. I’ll let you know if anything’s wrong or I don’t like it, I promise.”

“Good. Now….where were we?” She held Peridot’s wrists where they were tied together in front of her, then moved them over Peridot’s head and held them down on the pillow, looking down from over her. Peridot squirmed and bit her lip, but when Amethyst let go, Peridot kept her hands above her head, breathing hard. Amethyst kissed her on the mouth. “Remember, you have to be quiet,” then gave each nipple a gentle lick and another hard suck, eliciting noises that Peridot muffled with her face turned to her arm, before kissing down her belly, the sides of her waist, the crests of her hips, and oh god, she could smell how aroused Peridot was from here. Amethyst tugged on the waistband of Peridot’s boyshorts, pulled them over her ass and off completely, and Peridot shamelessly spread her legs wide in invitation, making Amethyst’s mouth water. She moved to lay between Peridot’s legs, kissed and sucked red spots up her shaking thighs, and then, deciding to show some mercy, she gently spread Peridot’s slippery labia with her thumbs, and licked her with a flat tongue, bottom to top, before coming back to focus on her clit. Peridot slid her feet flat on the bed, knees bent, and rocked her hips up into her face, and Amethyst followed and let her set the rhythm. She looked up and Peridot, struggling to stay quiet, was biting her bottom lip so hard her little fangs were leaving indentation marks, and was watching her, her chest rising and falling and nostrils flaring. Without breaking eye contact, Amethyst wrapped one arm around a hip and thigh, holding her down.

She pulled her mouth off and said, “Do you want me to--”

“Oh fuck, yes please, I am definitely aroused enough,” and with her other hand, Amethyst gently pushed two fingers into her, slid them partially out, then in, and put more pressure on her clit with her mouth as she made a beckoning motion with her fingers. Peridot’s gaze became unfocused, and after a moment, Peridot’s toes curled, her back arched, her feet kicked out, her arms jerked down to shove the loops of the tie into her mouth to muffle her moans, and she would have bucked Amethyst off entirely if she hadn’t been holding down Peridot’s hips. Amethyst could feel Peridot’s muscular contractions with her mouth and fingers, could feel how much wetter she got, and muffled her own moan in Peridot. She pulled her face away after the spasms slowed, but continued moving her fingers, stroking that spot as Peridot pushed onto her fingers several more times, twitching and gasping, and then stilled, legs sliding flat, trying to catch her breath.

“Fucking christ,” Amethyst said, pulling her fingers out with a wet sound and sticking them in her mouth as she sat up.

Peridot dropped her bound hands down to her lap and blinked up at Amethyst, expression hazy and eyes watery, licked the dents she’d left on her lip and winced.

Amethyst’s voice was rough. “Do you want me to untie you now?”

****

She could have fallen asleep like that, arms bound in front of her, after coming that hard; she could have just rolled onto her side and been out as long as she had a blanket over her. She’d done it before, with other women, in other situations. But Amethyst was wide-eyed, wet-faced, sucking on her own fingers.

So she held her arms forward and let Amethyst untie her and look at her wrists to reassure herself, and when Amethyst lay down, Peridot rolled towards her, stroked a hand across her soft stomach, then down.

Amethyst flushed and looked away. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

“Can you….can you just hold me and kiss me and grope me a little and I do it?”

“If that’s what you’d prefer, then of course.” Amethyst pulled off her undies and tossed them aside. Peridot put an arm under Amethyst’s neck, hair stuck to the sweat there, and kissed her face, tasting herself, before Amethyst pulled away and hid her face in Peridot’s neck, and Peridot watched from the corner of her eye as Amethyst masturbated, though from that angle all she could see was her hand moving up and down. Peridot reached with her other hand and groped a breast, pinched a nipple, kissed her hair, felt Amethyst’s unsteady breathing where Peridot’s neck met her shoulder. It wasn’t long before Amethyst’s hand moved faster, her breathing became uneven, and then she panted into Peridot’s neck before biting down hard and sucking, body shaking as she groaned. Peridot gasped. Amethyst slowly relaxed, pulled back, looked embarrassed. “Shit, sorry.”

Peridot touched her neck and smiled. That was going to leave a mark. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She kissed Amethyst on the lips, softly, before she rolled onto her back and realized she was blissfully drowsy.

Amethyst climbed out of bed. “Do you need something to sleep in?”

“Mmm. A t-shirt is fine.” Amethyst put soft fabric in her hands, and she sat up and pulled it over her head and fell back again. Blinked up to see Amethyst putting her hair in a simple braid and putting on a tank top and boxers. Then Amethyst climbed back into bed, arranged the sheet and duvet over them and reached past her to turn off the light. Peridot rolled towards Amethyst, and was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel obligated to say this: Don't ask total strangers tie you up in their basement after you've been drinking. Don't tie up total strangers in your basement after you've been drinking. Neckties are actually kind of crap for bondage, or so I've read, and cheap polyester ones are especially bad because they sometimes don't untie quickly. Do your research before tying anyone up/getting tied up, yeah? Yeah. 
> 
> Disclaimer over. :D I just couldn't resist the reference to canon--that the first couple of times they met, Amethyst ties up Peridot with her whip.


	3. Coffee and Roommates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.
> 
> I have the next two chapters mostly written, too! 
> 
> I'm not gonna lie, though: my fic writing has been slowed way the hell down, because they've blocked both google docs and gmail at work--I'd been doing the initial drafts of chapters in gdocs and then in emails to myself when things got slow at work. And then my boyfriend's desktop computer died, and so I don't get hours to myself on his laptop anymore. Fingers crossed that 1. he gets a new desktop 2. I get my own laptop. 
> 
> (My employer blocks almost anything related to hobbies or social media--but not AO3!)
> 
> Anyway. 
> 
> Dedicating this chapter to Thom Yorke, because I've listened to Radiohead's new album and his solo work nearly constantly while writing this fic.

Peridot woke up to a huffing sound and a bad smell. She opened her eyes and found herself face to face with Tiger resting her head on the bed. Tiger gave another soft "whuff!" of dog breath and started wagging her tail.   
  
"Amethyst. I think Tiger needs a walk." She rolled onto her back. "Amethyst?"   
  
"Uggggh. Yeah. Okay." Amethyst sat up and rubbed her face and looked over at Tiger, who started wagging more enthusiastically. Bits of hair had escaped Amethyst's braid in the night, her eyeliner was smeared, and she generally looked sleep-rumpled. It was one of the loveliest things Peridot had ever seen.   
  
The view only improved when Amethyst climbed over Peridot's legs to get out of bed, and then bent over a pile of clothes until she found a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie to go over the tank top and boxers she'd slept in. She slipped her feet into her boots as Tiger moved in excited circles around her.   
  
"Be right back," and Amethyst closed the door behind her.   
  
Peridot looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Now what? How awkward was this going to be? Morning-afters were sometimes weird, in her experience, but it had been a while. Where was her phone? What time was it? She was thirsty and she had to pee, but all that could wait just a moment. Instead she rolled into the side of the bed Amethyst had just left, still warm, hugged an armful of sheets and duvet, and breathed in deeply. Like some kind of creep. But god, Amethyst smelled good.    
  
Peridot woke up again, this time to the scent of coffee. Amethyst sat on the edge of the bed, holding mismatched mugs. She rested the mugs on the bedside table, and handed Peridot her glasses from on top of the book pile. "We have sugar if you want it, and Pearl has some soymilk in the fridge."   
  
Peridot put her glasses on and blinked at the world coming into focus. "Black is fine, thank you, but first I really have to pee."   
  
“Past the kitchen, upstairs. And Garnet and Pearl are long gone, so don’t worry about putting on pants.”   
  
While washing her hands she stared at herself in the mirror. What little eye makeup she’d worn was smudged. Her lips were chapped and the bottom one was swollen. Her hair was a disaster. She was in one of Amethyst's t-shirts, dark green with the Portland State University logo; and nothing else. A bruise was developing just above the collar to one side, with smaller ones on her inner thighs. She rinsed out her mouth several times and drank from the sink and splashed her face with water and ran her hands through her hair.    
  
When Peridot got to the bedroom door she stopped, frozen by the sight of Amethyst sipping coffee while seated on the edge of the bed and looking out the window pensively. The overcast light from the window made her look like something out of a painting herself; as if a Dutch master had painted a biracial woman with massive amounts of lilac hair and a hoodie with worn-out cuffs. The thought made Peridot smile. So she crossed the room and stood in front of Amethyst, and when Amethyst looked up, Peridot held her face in both hands and kissed her.   
  
When Peridot pulled back, the tension had left Amethyst's face, and instead she blushed a little and smiled into her coffee. "Well. Good morning to you, too."   
  
"Move over."   
  
"Mmmm...not just yet." Amethyst put her mug down on the table and pulled on Peridot's sides until she was sitting straddling Amethyst's lap. Peridot pushed strands of hair away from Amethyst’s face. Amethyst gently touched a finger to the bruise on her neck. "Sorry about that."   
  
"Don't be, I liked getting it."   
  
******   
  
Amethyst had had enough one-night stands who immediately disappeared in the morning, that she was half-convinced she'd come back from walking Tiger to an empty bed. But she peeked in to find Peridot on the other side of the bed, snuggling half the bedding, ass exposed and lightly snoring. It was kind of adorable. So she walked back to the kitchen and started coffee and fed Tiger, who ate and then curled up on a blanket with a contented sigh. There was really not much for humans to eat in the house that belonged to her. Not even bread for toast. Shit. Coffee would have to do for now.   
  
Peridot nearly jumped from the bed when she came back in. So she stared out the window and tried not to think too much and failed. Why did she even care? She's just another girl Amethyst picked up at work, right?    
  
And then Peridot had come back and kissed her, and she felt a wave of relief that was a little embarrassing. She also noticed how well-fucked Peridot looked, and that she still hadn't put her underwear back on, and she'd started playing with Amethyst’s hair, and oh hell, coffee and breakfast could wait a little longer.   
  
Amethyst was fascinated by the marks she'd given Peridot and couldn’t help touching them--the faint ones on her inner thighs, the darker one on her neck. “You bruise easily.”   
  
“Yeah. Combine that with being a bit of a klutz, and I often have bruises I don’t remember getting. Especially on my shins. But I remember getting these.”    
  
Amethyst kinda wanted to press on them just to see what noises Peridot would make. Or give her a matching one on the other side of her neck. Instead she kissed it, then nuzzled Peridot's neck, as Peridot pulled the elastic off her braided hair. 

Amethyst's hands moved over the curve of Peridot's waist and then down to her ass, slipping them under the shirt's hem and grabbing two handfuls. 

"Ah!"   
  
She smiled into Peridot's neck. "Sorry."   
  
"Liar," but she sounded amused.    
  
Peridot pushed her hands into Amethyst's hair, close to her scalp--Amethyst gasped and shivered--and Peridot grabbed and pulled hard, tilting Amethyst's head back to look at her. Amethyst surprised both of them by making a sound suspiciously close to a cut-off moan, her eyes half-shut and lips parted.  _ Oh, god. _   
  
"You do like this." It wasn’t a question. Amethyst's only response was to lick her lips and try to breathe.    
  
Which was all the invitation Peridot had been looking for, as she moved to kiss her, without releasing her hold on Amethyst's hair. Amethyst felt caught between the hands tightly holding handfuls of hair (Peridot was pulling harder than she knew in her enthusiasm, and it stung and prickled deliciously), and her swollen and greedy mouth. She tried to kiss back but her range of motion was limited. Her own hands had gone still, but now she moved them up and down Peridot's back and sides, under the shirt, trying to stay grounded.

Peridot let go of her hair only to move to different places and grab again, and this time Amethyst did moan into Peridot's mouth, and Peridot repeated the process several times--releasing, sliding, grabbing; making Amethyst moan every time--at which point Peridot started rocking back and forth in her lap, desperate for contact.  Amethyst kept one shaky hand at Peridot's lower back and slipped the other between them.   
  
Oh fuck, Peridot was so wet already, how? Amethyst dipped in just enough to make her fingertips slippery, then began working them on either side of Peridot's clit. The angle was tricky but she could manage.   
  
Peridot soon gave up on kissing, and wasn't pulling Amethyst's hair as much as hanging onto it for dear life, leaning on her, eyes closed, whimpering with every breath. Amethyst was now holding her hand mostly still and just offering pressure, as Peridot moved and moved and moved and then lost the rhythm. Her eyes flew open and she looked at Amethyst, shouting "Ameth--! Ame--! Oh!", and then moving one, two, three more times, before letting go of Amethyst's hair and nearly collapsing onto her.   
  
The blood rushed to Amethyst's scalp and her whole head tingled. She carefully lay down and rolled them both so they were on the bed on their sides, facing each other. Peridot looked as dazed as Amethyst felt.   
  
Peridot’s expression slowly cleared and she looked at Amethyst with concern. “That was supposed to be about you?’   
  
“Mm?   
  
“The hair pulling.”    
  
“But I wanted you to feel good.”   
  
“Making you moan was very arousing for me, obviously, but I should have paid more attention to you.”    
  
“S’fine.”    
  
Peridot sat up. “It’s not fine. I want to make you feel good too.” 

“And you did.”

Peridot frowned. “But--”

“It’s not a goddamn orgasm scorecard requiring a tie at all times. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Peridot didn’t seem mollified, and she was opening her mouth to say something else, but at that moment they both heard her stomach rumble and Amethyst started giggling, followed by Peridot.   
  
Amethyst leaned up on one elbow. “Look: really, I’m fine. And it’s not that far of a walk to the Cup and Saucer if you want to get food. And you do have coffee getting cold.”

****

Which is how Peridot found herself eating pancakes and scramble with Amethyst, seated near the window of the Cup and Saucer on North Denver, and sipping even more coffee; slightly self-conscious of her obvious hickey.    
  
“So, what have you seen of Portland so far?”   
  
“Honestly, not much. I’ve been working so much I’ve barely had time to get settled in. My roommate is only home about half the time so she hasn’t been much help. And then I flew back to Minnesota for Christmas.”    
  
Amethyst shrugged and dragged a piece of pancake through syrup with her fork. “There’s not as much fun stuff to do in February anyway if you want to do tourist stuff, unless you like getting rained on. There’s reasons for those stereotypes about how much coffee and beer we all drink, they’re at least something to cheer us up when it’s dark and wet for most of six months, and we can have them indoors with friends or a book.”   
  
“Speaking of books. I have already visited the Hawthorne Powell’s bookstore several times, and the downtown one once. I think it’s my favorite place here so far.”   
  
“Yeah? What did you get? Anything good?” They were soon discussing favorite books and authors, even after they’d paid the check and had another top-off of coffee, everything from Neil Gaiman to Terry Pratchett, and Octavia Butler to Ursula K LeGuin--which had Amethyst commenting, “You know LeGuin’s from here, right?” with visible pride.    
  
Amethyst continued. “We should go to Powell’s sometime next weekend. The one downtown, since you’ve only been there once and it’s so much bigger. Also maybe the big downtown library, it’s really gorgeous, and you should get a library card if you don’t have one yet, our library is amazing. And the Sizzle Pie across from that Powell’s is so good for pizza and people watching and beer.”   
  
Peridot smiled--she was being asked out on an actual date. “That sounds like a fun day, actually.”    
  
“Gimme your phone, I’ll text myself from it so you’ll have my number.” Peridot pulled it out of her handbag and unlocked the screen before handing it over, and Amethyst took a hard look at the phone before busting up laughing.   
  
“Your phone case. Is a Tardis.”    
  
Peridot’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Yes?”    
  
“Oh my  _ god, _ I knew I recognized your scarf from somewhere! You  _ nerd _ ! Isn’t the scarf supposed to be longer, though?” Amethyst typed out something rapidly, hit send, handed it back.    
  
“It’s scaled down, but I do have the full-size one at home. I learned to knit so I could make it screen-accurate.”

“Of course you did! You have the whole outfit, don’t you? And the sonic screwdriver?!”    
  
“Yes, and I’ve worn it to conventions, too, handing out jelly babies,” and she was smiling again.    
  
Amethyst laughed again, trying to muffle it with a hand and snorting. “I’m sorry, I’m not making fun of you, I swear, I just. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised? You do tech shit for a living and recognized my Hufflepuff tie.”   
  
“Oh please, nearly every single person our age has read Harry Potter or seen the movies. And we’ve been talking about sci-fi and fantasy novels for the last half-hour.”   
  
“That’s fair. So listen, I have to get going, do you want me to walk you to the bus stop?”    
  
The sign for the number four bus was less than a block away, but Peridot let Amethyst accompany her anyway, and the bus was approaching just as they got to the corner.    
  
Amethyst grabbed Peridot’s hands, squeezed them, and kissed her. “I’ll text you about next weekend.” Peridot got on the bus, sat down, and pulled out her phone.    
  
**Peridot 11:56am** : This is Peridot, a cute little nerd, texting Amethyst’s phone.    
  
Peridot smiled, then noticed she had other texts:    
  
**Lapis 8:37am** : Hey I took an earlier flight back where are you   
  
**Lapis 9:23am** : OMG did you go out last night    
  
**Lapis 11:34am** : You're not dead are you   
  
**Peridot 12:07pm** : No I'm not dead, yes I was out last night, my phone is almost dead tho, tty when I get home

**Lapis 12:07pm** : K   
  
****

Amethyst walked back to the house and let herself in the front door. Pearl was in the kitchen washing dishes.  _ Shit _ . Amethyst hoped to just walk by and downstairs without incident.

No such luck. She got nearly to the stairs to the basement before Pearl spoke.

"Peridot seemed...nice."   
  
Here it goes. Amethyst turned, and said to Pearl’s back, "You hardly spoke to her."   
  
Pearl’s voice was laced in sarcasm. "Yes, and I'm sure you took plenty of time to get to know her before deciding to put another notch in your proverbial bedpost.” 

In the calmest voice Amethyst could muster: "It's really none of your business."

Pearl dried off her hands and turned to face Amethyst. She twisted the towel in her hands and looked at the floor. “I'm your friend."   
  
"I know you're my friend. But it's still none of your business who I fuck or why."   
  
"I just...I see you sleeping around, picking up new girls every other week, and I worry, okay?"   
  
"What exactly are you so worried about?" Amethyst heard her voice raising, but was powerless to stop it.    
  
"Wouldn't you rather have something more long-term? You used to have girlfriends sometimes."   
  
Amethyst smirked. "Yeah, sometimes several at once."   
  
"Be that as it may, at least you cared about them. And they cared about you."   
  
Amethyst hands started to shake. "Yeah, and look where it got me. Same place it got you! At least I'm getting laid, and not crying when I sing at the bar!" She regretted it the moment she said it, watching Pearl's eyes fill.   
  
"Shit, Pearl, I'm sorry."   
  
Pearl ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs to the second floor, and nearly slammed the door. Amethyst had really fucked that one up. She went down into her own room, dropped her hoodie on the floor, and curled up in bed with her shoes still on. Fuck, now she was sniffling too. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm down. In. Out. In. Out. 

She could have just told Pearl she'd asked Peridot out on a date. Or that she did miss having a steady girlfriend, even if none of them lasted. And instead she'd been defensive and angry, because she knew Pearl was right. Again. Dammit!

  
Her heart ached, and for the millionth time, she wished Rose still lived with them. She could always make them all laugh. It was nearly always easy to be happy around her. Until it wasn't.   
  
It was too easy to get started thinking about Rose and then just stay there, and it never did any good. Amethyst always ended up even more sad and angry than when she started. She was getting tired of it. She could only imagine how Pearl felt. At least for Amethyst, Rose was just a close friend; like an older sister but better. Not like Pearl, where Rose was the only love of her life.   
  
Amethyst sat up and wiped her face and slid to the floor. She leaned against the bed and started scratching Tiger's ears. Tiger pushed her head into Amethyst's lap and rolled onto her back for a belly rub.   
  
She should think about something else.   
  
Like Peridot.   
  
What  _ was  _ it about her? Amethyst had slept with other women who had nice asses and were noisy in bed. But she hadn't invited them out for brunch the next day, or given them her number, or chatted with them about which Terry Pratchett books she liked best. Peridot was just so easy to talk to, and her face was just so expressive and genuine. And cute, with that little upturned nose and those big glasses.   
  
It was hard to reconcile the guileless nerd who was nervous about singing Kesha with how she was during sex. Peridot wasn't shy or self-conscious at all. Amethyst envied her that; giving orgasms was easy for her, a point of pride if she was honest. But accepting other people’s attention often made her feel exposed and raw in a way she didn’t like. If she kept seeing Peridot, eventually Peridot would insist on it, and then what?    
  
But who knew if Peridot was even really interested in her, anyway? Amethyst had given Peridot her number and suggested a date. She’d wait a day or two and text her about it. Maybe.

In the pocket of her hoodie on the floor, her phone buzzed.

**Garnet 12:22pm** : Pearl texted me.

Amethyst groaned out loud and thumped her head on the mattress behind her. Christ.

**Amethyst 12:23pm** : I’m sorry

**Amethyst 12:23pm** : I told her I was sorry but she ran off

**Garnet 12:24pm** : It’s not my job to fix the problems between you and Pearl, and I’m tired of doing it. I do enough of that kind of emotional labor at work and in class.

Garnet worked at a social services nonprofit, and was working on her master’s in social work. Amethyst honestly didn’t know when she managed to sleep.

**Amethyst 12:25pm** : I know

**Garnet 12:25pm** : Do you?

**Garnet 12:26pm** : I know you both miss Rose, I do too; but you both have to stop taking it out on each other.

**Garnet 12:26pm** : And you, in particular, have got to learn to rein in your temper a little. 

Amethyst entered and erased half a dozen replies before giving up. Fuck this. She had hoped to get some painting done before she worked that night, but she was in no state to paint now. Unless the painting was just angry smears. Or she stabbed the canvas.

“Tiger, do you want to go for a walk?” Tiger’s tail thumped and she looked up at Amethyst with adoration.

****   
  
There was nearly always a line out the door for the ice cream shop in the first floor of Peridot’s building. As she squeezed past the crowd to the entry of the apartments above, she wondered what could possibly be the appeal of ice cream on a cold rainy in February?    
  
Lapis was sitting on the couch, bare feet on the table, slurping ramen from one of the food carts down the street while watching TV. She paused it when Peridot walked in.   
  
"Weren't you planning to get home later tonight?" Peridot asked, as she slipped off her shoes and put them on the rack near the door. 

"Yeah, I grabbed an earlier flight. I've been to Melbourne so many times by now, there's nothing new to say, though I got some good photos." Lapis was a travel writer, theoretically. In reality she had a trust fund, and a well-liked blog and instagram account that occasionally had sponsors.   
  
Melbourne explained the fresh set of freckles, which contrasted with her fading blue hair. "You’re not tired?"   
  
"Nah, you know me, I can sleep anywhere, especially long plane flights. But my body has no idea what time it actually is anymore.” 

Peridot hung up her coat and bag and sat down next to Lapis on the couch. Lapis set down her ramen and turned towards her. “So. You went out last night."

"Yeah, to karaoke."

  
Lapis's eyebrows went up. "Oh really? Until noon the next day?"   
  
"No, obviously; I met someone."   
  
"And she gave you a nice big hickey from the looks of it."   
  
"Yeah, she did." Peridot couldn't help smiling and touching her neck.   
  
Lapis grinned. "Good. It's about time you got laid. You used to all the time in California."   
  
"'All the time' is an exaggeration."   
  
"Only barely. This has to be the first time since we moved up here."   
  
Peridot stretched out her legs next to Lapis’s. "I've been so busy! What about you?"   
  
"Pfft. I texted that guy in Melbourne but he got a girlfriend since I was there last." She put a hand to her face and made a derisive farting sound. "Anyway, tell me about her."   
  
Peridot's smile became daydreamy. "Mm. Name's Amethyst. She paints and is a bartender and she has a lot of hair. She's funny and she’s good at karaoke and she's really hot."   
  
"Are you going to see her again?"   
  
"I think so, she gave me her number and suggested a day at the library and Powell’s and then pizza."   
  
"Sounds like your ideal date."   
  
"Yeah. Anyway. Gonna let you get back to catching up on Game of Thrones."   
  
"Don't tell me anything."   
  
Peridot walked to her room, plugged in her phone, and flopped onto her bed. No, wait, lying down was a terrible idea, she really needed a shower. 

Brushing her teeth felt good. So did standing under the hot water, and washing off all the residual stickiness of sweat and sex.

Speaking of which. Peridot replayed the whole night in her head as she washed her hair and scrubbed herself down with minty soap. She’d really wanted to go down on Amethyst but it hadn’t happened; and it was obvious Amethyst was avoiding it. Why? Just thinking about doing it was making Peridot feel aroused again, and she briefly considered masturbating in the shower. Instead she hurried through the rest of her shower and barely dried off before wrapping the towel around herself and closing her bedroom door shut behind her.

She yanked open her bedside drawer and stared at its contents for a bit before deciding on just her hand and some lube for once. She let a fantasy play out like a movie while she touched herself--taking off Amethyst’s clothes slowly. Kissing her thick arms and large breasts and soft belly and wide thighs, and sucking on her tits, and getting her face between those those thighs, and the sounds Amethyst had made when Peridot had pulled her hair, yeah, those sounds, _ I bet she makes those sounds, I wonder what face she makes when she comes. I want to be able to see what she’s doing when she masturbates. I wonder what her pussy looks like with my fingers in it. I wonder if she’d let me slide my whole hand in while I lick her clit. I wonder if _ \--and then Peridot was coming already, hard and sharp and fast, surprising herself. She bit her sore lip again trying to keep reasonably quiet and nearly kicked the duvet off her bed.

Peridot lay still for several moments just catching her breath and twitching through the aftershocks. When was the last time she'd come three separate times in less than twenty-four hours? She got up, cleaned up with the damp towel, and tossed it in the laundry basket before getting dressed for a lazy day at home watching TV with Lapis, and she put on her favorite soft flannel pants with the little green aliens on them so she could wash her other clothes.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sex scene near the beginning of this chapter was the first one I wrote for this story, at something like 4am in the dark on my phone, back in August. It's changed a lot since then. 
> 
> Have I mentioned how much both of them are basically self-inserts? I don't have a Tardis phone case, but I did knit that long-ass scarf and I've cosplayed the Fourth Doctor. (I met my boyfriend at a Doctor Who trivia night.)
> 
> Amethyst and Peridot live on the same bus line--the 4, which meanders south from St. Johns, loops through downtown on the other side of the river, and then goes east up Division all the way to Gresham. I realized it partway through writing this chapter, looking up which bus line stopped outside the Cup and Saucer. It wasn't on purpose, but it's a pretty sweet coincidence. (I also live just a few blocks off the 4.)


	4. Texting and Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me way too long to be reasonably happy with this chapter. Sheesh. 
> 
> Texting! Interacting with other people! An actual date!

Monday evening:

 **Amethyst 8:32pm** : Hey nerd  
Did you still want to do books and pizza this weekend?

 **Peridot 8:33** : Yes! Is Saturday good?

 **Amethyst 8:33pm** : Yeah! Let's meet on the steps of the central library at 4

 **Peridot 8:34pm** : Sounds great.

 **Amethyst 8:40pm** : Ughhhh work is so boring right now  
Mondays are the worst unless there's a big party or something  
But singing hasn’t even started yet so who knows

 **Peridot: 8:41pm** : And I'm just now getting home from work. I'm so tired.

 **Amethyst 8:45pm** : I bet! You don’t normally work that late, do you?

“Who are you texting?” Jasper was attempting to peek over Amethyst’s shoulder at her phone. She had a good head and change of height over Amethyst, something she never failed to rub in given the chance.

Amethyst shoved the phone into her pocket just as it buzzed again. “Nobody.”

“Oh bullshit, you had the dopiest smile on your face just now.”

“I did not.” Amethyst walked off to grab empty dishes off the tables. Of which there were all of three pint glasses. She took them to the back and put them in the dishwasher, sighed, then walked back to the bar, where Jasper wiped a nonexistent spot before turning to look at Amethyst.

“Was it that girl you left with last weekend?”

For fuck’s sake, Jasper could be relentless. Amethyst started slicing limes, even though they had plenty. Maybe a whole office’s worth of women from Lake Oswego or Beaverton would come in and order mojitos. You never knew. It had happened.

Jasper was still looking at her. “Okay, fine. Yes. That’s who I was texting.”

Jasper smiled. “Wow, when was the last time you actually gave a girl your number?”

Jamie walked up, just back from clocking in. “Was it the one who did Kesha the other night? Are you going to see her again? She was cute.”

“Oh my god, why do any of you care?” The bunch of them were worse gossips sometimes than her family, back home in Estacada. Though she supposed Jasper almost counted, being from Estacada as well.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Jasper said. “It’s just been a while. I haven’t seen you smile like that about a girl since last summer, it feels like.”

Amethyst froze for a short moment before going back to slicing fruit with a little more aggression.

Jasper seemed to put two and two together. “Oh.” Jamie looked confused, then understanding dawned on his face as well. It was almost more than Amethyst could stand.

“Aren’t you all done pitying me yet? Rose wasn’t _my_ girlfriend or anything.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Jasper sighed. “You two were plenty close.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it at work.”

“That’s fair. But do you ever talk about it?” Someone sat down at the other end of the bar and Jasper walked away to take their order.

Amethyst slapped the knife down flat on the cutting board and Jamie jumped and took a step back.

“Uh, talk to you later, Amethyst.”

“Yeah.” Her pocket buzzed again. Maybe she would take her break early. She peeked at her phone.

 **Peridot 8:53pm** : No, it comes and goes. We’re working on a project right now but it should calm down soon.

 **Peridot 9:01pm** : Anyway, I think I’m going to take a shower and watch some TV and go to bed. Talk to you later.

 **Amethyst 9:03pm** : Okay, g’night

****

Tuesday afternoon, Peridot pushed her chair away from her desk and took off her glasses before leaning back to rub her forehead and temples. She could not wait for this project to be over. She looked at the clock: it was still only mid-afternoon, but she’d been in the office until nearly eight yesterday. If she had coffee now she’d never get to sleep later, but tea would be good, and give her an excuse to stretch her legs. She put her glasses back on and stood up, looking out the window for a moment at the people below on the street. Well. Mostly at the hoods of their jackets.

After she set down the steaming mug, she decided to goof off online for a few minutes before trying to focus again.

Amethyst had sent her a friend request on Facebook.

She clapped her hands over her mouth to suppress her own giggling before approving the request. What was she, thirteen?

Peridot opened Amethyst’s profile. Nothing really all that surprising--she already knew where Amethyst worked and went to school and where she was from, after all. Amethyst didn’t post that often--a few links to humor sites, a vent about an unpleasant bar patron. She opened Amethyst’s photos.

There were fewer than Peridot would have expected. Amethyst singing with Garnet at the bar, taken by a customer. A photo Amethyst had taken of the printed photo of herself in black and white in the New York TImes article about Portland’s karaoke scene. (That one had a lot of comments.) An overexposed shot taken with flash of her and Jasper working behind the bar and making silly faces. A few shots of her at the Last Thursday street fair smiling awkwardly with her paintings, taken by Pearl. A few selfies, including a full-length photo in the mirror in her room, in a short dress and tights. (Peridot may have spent some time looking at that one, savoring the chance to stare at Amethyst without being noticed) Another taken as she was riding her bicycle one-handed, holding the phone over her head and aiming down at her smiling, upturned face, the wind in her hair. One of her and Tiger where Tiger’s tongue was hanging out of her mouth and Amethyst was copying her, which made Peridot giggle again.

The next photo was a group shot. It was obviously taken in the yard behind the house, with four women crammed into a sagging hammock hanging between the two trees at the fence line, nearly in each others’ laps. The trees and the ground were covered in pink cherry blossoms--it was taken early last spring, nearly a year ago. Garnet sat to the left, looking much less serious than she had at the bar. Amethyst was on the right, mid-laugh, her feet swinging above the ground. And in the middle was Pearl with a wide smile, leaning on a woman who looked familiar, though Peridot couldn’t place her. She was tall, maybe even a little taller than Garnet, but heavier, with an exaggerated hourglass figure. Her bright red hair was in huge curls past her shoulders, and she was laughing as well, an arm around Pearl.

Peridot gasped when she realized where she’d seen the woman before: the painting in the basement. She hovered the cursor over her face in the photo. She wasn’t tagged. Was she Pearl’s ex-girlfriend? Peridot couldn’t remember her name; she’d been distracted that night at the bar.

She scrolled down a little further and found another group shot: the same four people hosting a Halloween party a couple of years ago at the same house, dressed as Hogwarts students, all posing with wands in one hand and red plastic cups in the other. Pearl and her ex-girlfriend had both worn Gryffindor colors; Garnet had gone for Ravenclaw. Amethyst looked good in a short black pleated skirt with white knee socks, a white blouse with the top two buttons undone, the Hufflepuff tie over it, hair in two braids, a cheap nylon witch’s hat, and a cheeky smile topping it all off. Between how Amethyst looked in the outfit and remembering the necktie’s recent use, Peridot’s face went hot.

Despite nobody looking over her shoulder, she felt a bit creepy digging through Amethyst’s old photos, so Peridot looked back at her own photos, wondering what Amethyst would see. Oh lord. The cosplay photos were one thing--Peridot knew the Star Trek uniform from the original series showed off her ass and legs nicely (even if she was clearly drunk in a couple of the convention photos), and Amethyst already knew she’d cosplayed the Fourth Doctor. But she had photos of when she was on the robotics team in high school, braces and all. Maybe Amethyst wouldn’t look back that far.

****

Amethyst looked from the photo on her open laptop on the table next to her, to the canvas in front of her. She was happy with it so far, and she really wanted to finish this commission soon. She rolled her shoulders a few times and dipped a brush into a plastic tray.

The stairs creaked with footsteps. Amethyst barely looked up as Pearl crossed the basement, turned on the washer, and began loading it.

They hadn’t spoken since Sunday, and it was stupid.

Amethyst swallowed around a suddenly dry throat, and put the brush down. “I, uh. I’m seeing Peridot again. On Saturday.”

Pearl paused for a few seconds, then kept shoving clothes into the machine as it filled with hot water. “That’s good.”

Amethyst fidgeted with the paintbrush handle. “Pearl, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

Pearl dropped the lid of the washer shut and turned gracefully on one foot before leaning on the machine, crossing her arms with a sigh. “And I shouldn’t needle you about your love life.” She laughed darkly. “I mean, you’re right on that score; at least you have one.”

Amethyst stood up and picked her way through the mess to where Pearl was standing, then hugged her around her middle, resting the side of her head against one bony shoulder. Pearl was stiff at first, but she slowly uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around Amethyst’s shoulders with a sigh.

“I really am sorry. Not just about the argument. Just...everything.”

“Yeah. I know.” Pearl hugged her a little tighter. She was tall and all bones, but it still felt nice, in a familiar way.

The washing machine began agitating and shaking, and Pearl startled and jumped away. Amethyst almost fell over, recovered, and cracked up laughing.  

Pearl smiled and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, what are you working on right now?”

“It’s a commission I got recently. Wanna see?”

****

Peridot sipped coffee and nibbled on toast and absentmindedly scrolled tumblr on her phone. She looked up and out the window next to her at the gray sky--a few sunbreaks were predicted later in the day. She’d believe it when she saw it.

From Lapis’s room came swearing and thumping, which is what had woken Peridot up before her alarm. Her door swung open and Lapis wheeled a suitcase out the door behind her, larger than the one she’d taken to Australia.

“Where to this time?”

Lapis was looking at her phone. “Iceland. Two weeks.”

“In February?! What the hell is there to do? Isn’t it dark most of the day?”

“Drink a lot of beer spiked with vodka at night and sit around in hot springs and outdoor swimming pools in the day. Maybe catch the aurora if I’m lucky. Meet locals when the place isn’t covered in tourists. Anyway if I get too bored I can catch a flight to London.”

 _You’re a tourist too_ , Peridot didn’t say. Lapis’s phone buzzed.

“My taxi is here, finally, god. See ya when I get back. Wait!” Lapis stopped just as she got to the door and looked back at Peridot with a smile. “Isn’t your date tomorrow?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“I hope it goes well. Text me or something.”

“I will, but go! You have a taxi waiting.” The door shut and the lock clicked and it was blessedly quiet in the apartment. Peridot looked at her own phone again: one of the fics she was following had updated! And she time to read it before work! Yes! This called for more coffee.

****

Amethyst stepped off the MAX train and pulled her hood up against the drizzle. When she turned the corner to the central library she smiled so big she felt silly--among the other people hanging out on the steps, passed by others going in and out, there was Peridot, in jeans and her dark green wool coat and what was clearly the full-size version of the Doctor Who scarf. It was looped around her neck twice and still trailed across several steps up to where she was sitting, hunched under her umbrella, looking at her phone, and chewing on her bottom lip.

“How long is that thing, anyway?” Peridot looked up and broke into a grin as big as Amethyst’s.

“Thirteen feet when you include the fringe. Took about eighty hours, but I’m a slow knitter.”

“I’m impressed. Ready to go in? Did you bring ID?”

“Yup!” Peridot stood up and collapsed the umbrella. With Peridot standing, the scarf still nearly touched the ground.

When they walked into the entryway, Amethyst couldn’t help pointing out the lettering over the second set of doors: “ _I always imagined paradise would be a kind of library_.”

“Jorge Luis Borges! Nice.”

Amethyst said, “Really? I never knew that. I just agreed with the idea.”

While Peridot talked to a librarian at the counter in the lobby about getting a card, Amethyst leaned on the desk and closed her eyes and listened: doors opening and closing, people’s wet shoes squeaking on the floors, the check-out computers beeping, people chatting, the hissing of the espresso machine in the next room over.

“Done!” Amethyst opened her eyes and Peridot held up her shiny new card with pride, her signature fresh under the barcode.

As they walked away from the desk, Amethyst said, “So a lot of the good stuff is on hold at any given time or at other branches, but honestly the downtown library is just really pretty.” They walked into the children’s room to see the large metal tree sculpture. They went up the carved marble stairs to peek into other rooms with their high windows and carpets of rose vines. They looked at the history exhibit currently on display.

Amethyst pulled Peridot into her favorite section, the sheet music. Amethyst absentmindedly ran her hand over the bindings. “I love the smell here.”

Peridot scrunched up her face. “It’s the smell of decaying paper.”

“I dunno, I think it’s kind of romantic. All this old music, donated by people who are long gone by now.” She pulled out a piece of harp music, the edges browned, the pages shiny. The dedication was from 1912 and written in a fine copperplate hand.

Peridot sniffed--and then sneezed.

Amethyst tried to quiet her laughter. “Yeah, it’s a little dusty. Did you want to look for anything to check out? I tend to do most of my browsing on the website and have my holds sent to the Kenton branch.”

“Nah. This branch is really beautiful, but I think I’ll look online later. Let’s go to Powell’s.”

“Leaving one book paradise for another, huh?”

“As it were.” Peridot smiled.

The moment they were down the wide steps and on the sidewalk for the short walk to the bookstore, Amethyst reached out and grabbed Peridot’s hand.

“Jesus, Peri, your hand is freezing!”

Peridot’s cheeks turned pink, and not just from the chill.

“You’ve never called me that.”

“What, Peri? Is that okay?”

“Yeah.”

******

Peridot got called Peri all the time, to her eternal annoyance, but the nickname sounded so much better when Amethyst said it, which just made no sense at all. She pulled up her coat’s hood against the drizzly damp, but also to hide her burning face, and squeezed Amethyst’s hand.

Powell’s was almost overly warm after the chill of outside, and her glasses fogged for a moment. Peridot took her hand back to unbutton her coat and push her hood off, stepping out of the busy flow of people. Amethyst grabbed a map of the store, which took up a whole city block, and handed it to her.

“Was there anything in particular you wanted to look at? I was gonna run up a few floors and grab a book of Mucha stuff I’ve had my eye on, if they have any used copies yet.”

“I might just look around the fantasy and sci-fi section, see if anything catches my eye.”

“I’ll find you there, then.”

Peridot slowly scanned the shelves, trying to remember if any of her favorites had published anything new recently. She found a collection of short stories she hadn’t read yet that included some familiar names and leaned against the tall shelf, flipping to a story and diving in.

“Huh, most girls don’t like the older stuff.”

Peridot looked up over her glasses at a man a little younger than herself. “Excuse me?”

He pointed at Peridot’s scarf, almost touching it. Peridot stepped back. “Doctor Who. They don’t watch the classic stuff. Most of them just watch the new stuff.”

“I grew up with the classic stories, but I like the new ones just fine.” She put her nose back in the book.

He didn’t take the hint. “So many girls only get into Doctor Who because they think David Tennant and Matt Smith are hot.”

Peridot refused to look up from the book, even though she was so angry she wasn’t even reading it anymore. “Great. I’m gay, so I don’t really care.”

“Damn right she is.” Amethyst put an arm around her waist and somehow managed to look down at a man taller than she was. He made a sour face and wordlessly walked off.

“The fuck is his problem?” Amethyst hissed. Peridot couldn’t help leaning into Amethyst a little. Not that she couldn’t have handled it herself, but she was glad she didn’t have to.

“I don’t know, but hitting on a woman by insulting other women is probably not a sound flirting strategy, even if I did date men.”

“No shit. What a jackass. Hey, they had the book I wanted used, did you find anything?”

“Yeah, I somehow missed this when it came out.” She looked up from the book’s cover to find Amethyst looking at her oddly.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just. You, I guess.” Peridot had no idea what to say to that. Amethyst ran a hand over the long loops of the scarf hanging around her neck, then pulled Peridot in for a short kiss, gentle and sweet, while people walked by and politely ignored them. Peridot’s heart beat faster.

Amethyst moved back and cleared her throat. “Um. Let’s go look at a few of the other rooms, since we’re here and playing tourist.”

They went to the children’s book section and talked about their favorite books as children--who was your favorite American Girl? (Peridot’s was Kirsten: “She lived in Minnesota, just like I did.” Amethyst’s was Molly.) Did you read the Babysitter’s Club? Which Harry Potter book is your favorite? They wandered through almost every room, talking and giggling, before ending back in the front room.

The room had a display of local-themed books and gifts, and many of them were, to Peridot, a little kitschy and cringe-inducing. Who the hell needed a Portlandia-themed cookbook? She was tempted by a glossy photo book showing the history of each of the bridges over the Willamette River, and a book of self-guided walking tours. But there was a coffee mug that said “Powell’s Bookstore” printed over a drawing of an umbrella, and it was cute. She had to have it. Amethyst rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “What is it with you and umbrellas?”

In the line for the registers, they looked at displays of things like socks printed with corgis and zippered bags that said things like “Why not hugs _and_ drugs?”

“That’s certainly _my_ life motto,” said Amethyst loudly, causing Peridot to laugh so hard she had to grab Amethyst’s arm to keep from falling over.

Books (and mug) paid for, they walked outside into the dark of an early evening in late February. They crossed the street to Sizzle Pie, each ordered a slice and a beer, and slid into a pair of window seats that faced the bookstore they’d just left.

“The people watching is so much better here in the summer, with everyone outside and it light out much later, but it’s still not bad,” said Amethyst. Peridot took her phone out and snapped a photo as well as she could through the window, trying to capture Powell’s lit-up sign advertising the next author appearance, the car headlights reflecting off wet asphalt, the silhouettes of people waiting for the bus or to cross Burnside street.

Amethyst held out her hand for Peridot’s phone, then turned on the front-facing camera and leaned in close to Peridot. After the first photo, Amethyst turned her head and kissed Peridot’s cheek while taking another photo, then handed the phone back.

“I look like a deer in the headlights!” Peridot whined. “You should have warned me!”

“Nah, you look adorably surprised. I like it. You should send it to me.”

“Only if you promise not to post it anywhere.”

They were quiet for a moment, eating and looking out the window as people walked by, but Peridot was soon looking at Amethyst’s reflection instead. Her hair was in a huge messy knot, pieces of it framing her face and nearly covering one of her eyes where they had slipped out. The lilac dye had faded away almost entirely in places, exposing dark roots. Most of her lipstick had worn off from the pizza and beer but her eyeliner was still sharp. She’d taken off her hoodie, and the dark long-sleeved dress she had on over leggings did nothing to hide her figure. God, Amethyst was hot. Peridot’s eyes went back up and she realized Amethyst had caught her looking--they were now making eye contact in the window reflection, and Amethyst’s knowing smirk made Peridot’s face burn again. It was weird to glance over and see her own expression as she blushed and bit her lip.

Looking into Amethyst’s eyes in the reflection, Peridot said, “My roommate’s out of town again.”

Amethyst’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

“And I have more beer at home too.”

Amethyst fluttered her eyelashes. “Ms. Peridot, are you inviting me back to your place?”

Peridot tried to copy her and failed. “Why yes Ms. Amethyst, I believe I am,” and they both giggled.

Amethyst said, “I took tri-met instead of my bicycle today, so whichever bus goes to your place is fine with me.”

They finished their pizza and bussed their table and left, and this time Peridot reached for Amethyst’s hand.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, my fave part of this to write was probably Peridot looking at Amethyst's facebook photos....Except that I know it would make logical sense for both of them to have at least a few photos with exes (lord knows, my facebook photos have quite the collection) and I just...couldn't make myself write a description of either of them being in couple-y photos with other people. Even though I have some fairly vivid headcanons for both of their previous dating lives in this fic. *shrug emoji*
> 
> Having been to Iceland in February (my family lived on the now-closed American military base from 1989-1991), Lapis is in for a cold visit--it hovers around freezing with a lot of wind in February. 
> 
> Portland's downtown library is really gorgeous, and worth visiting if you're in town. It has carved marble staircases! And the children's room is named after Beverly Cleary because she grew up here and many of her books took place here.
> 
> Powell's bookstore's rooms are color-coded....and it has rooms named Pearl and Rose, on different floors. They really do sell all the things I mentioned. 
> 
> I've sat at that window of Sizzle Pie many times. It's where my boyfriend and I met up on our first official date. I took a photo from that exact spot on a night in February or so (but it wasn't raining and there weren't many people out) that you can see here: http://aprillikesthings.tumblr.com/post/138903473577/sitting-at-sizzle-pie-rip-roccos-with-vegan


	5. Feelings and Video Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so: don't get too excited. 
> 
> I've had this chapter sitting in my docs for over a year now. I think I wrote most of it before I got obsessed with writing Last Resort, but I could never make myself completely happy with it, and I was distracted writing so many other things, and so it sat there, taunting me. 
> 
> To be honest, I'm still not completely happy with this chapter. It is what it is. I gave it a quick edit in order to correct some stuff and link a couple of scenes together but I'm not pressuring myself to work on it any further.

Amethyst pulled out her phone. Peridot was leaning on her slightly, looking out the window and watching for their stop.

 

 **Amethyst 6:37pm** : I’m not going to be home tonight can you walk Tiger

 **Pearl 6:38pm** : Yes. Are you out with Peridot?

 **Amethyst 6:38pm** : Yes

 **Pearl 6:38pm** : Good luck?

 **Amethyst 6:39pm** : Thanks

 

Amethyst smiled and put her phone in her pocket just as Peridot pulled the cord for the stop.

After the bus pulled away, Amethyst said, “Wow, you live in the fancy part of Division.”

They waited to cross, then walked up the busy street. “I guess? I don’t know what it looked like before.”

“This part was mostly old houses and shit. That building with the Indian place was a grocery store and then it was empty for years. A few blocks from here was an anarchist bookstore, and a few blocks the other way was the only lesbian bar in Portland. RIP The Egyptian. I mean it was a shithole but at least it was there, y’know? And it did have karaoke.”

“I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I’ve never really been into the bar scene. In California I mostly met other women through work stuff or online.”

“Am I really the first girl to pick you up in a bar?”

“Maaaaybe. Does that make you feel special?”

“Maaaaybe.” They smiled big goofy smiles at each other, until Peridot pulled out her keys and started moving through the crowd on the sidewalk.

“You live over Salt & Straw?”

“Yeah, why, do you want ice cream? It’s kinda cold for it, but I’m up for whatever.”

“Not right now. I’m just surprised.”

“Why?”

Amethyst wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Most of the buildings facing that part of Division reminded her of odd little boxes with a lot of glass, and this one wasn’t any exception. She’d never been inside any of the apartments that sat over the yoga studios and restaurants on the ground floors. Peridot touched a plastic fob to a reader until it beeped and then pulled the door open, walked past the mailboxes, and pushed the elevator button.

They got off at the third floor and walked down a short hall. Peridot pressed the fob to the lock, opened the door, flipped on some lights, and then held the door open for her. “We take our shoes off at the door, so go ahead and put yours on the rack and I’ll grab the beer.”

Peridot unwound the long scarf and toed off her shoes. Amethyst pulled off her boots and unzipped her hoodie, then turned to look around. She tried not to gape and failed. The apartment wasn’t large, but it was _nice_. The floors were shiny wood--or a convincing fake. The small kitchen, open to the main room, had cabinets that matched the floors and a glass-topped stove and granite counter tops. The outside wall of the main room had several large windows, and part of it opened to a small balcony overlooking Division street. It looked lived in--there were dirty dishes in the sink, take-out boxes on the counter, and some scattered newspapers and other clutter on a table--but the furniture wasn’t old and it all matched, in tones of dark blue and green. There was a large TV hung on the wall, with several gaming consoles and controllers and a blu-ray player and a roku remote on shelves underneath. Another shelf held stacks of games and blu-ray DVD's.

Peridot was looking in the fridge. “I have some Ninkasi IPA and a fruit beer from Fort George.”

“The Ninkasi.”

Peridot popped the bottles open with the opener sitting on the counter, then handed her one as they moved to the couch. “Are you okay? Now you look like a deer in the headlights.”

“Your place is really nice.”

Peridot pulled her feet up onto the couch and hugged her knees with one arm. “Lapis picked it out before we moved up here. It is nicer than our place in Mountain View, and cheaper too.”

“Lapis is your roommate, yeah? You moved up here together?” She hoped it sounded nonchalant.

“Yeah. Originally I’d just answered a craigslist ad for a roommate in San Francisco, because I was moving from Minneapolis for work and I just needed a place. It’s impossible to find anything down there, so I said yes to Lapis even though I'd only seen pictures and chatted over email. But we got along so well we’ve just always shared a place since, including moving from there to Mountain View and then from Mountain View to here.” Peridot shrugged and took a drink. “I mean, it does help that she’s home only about half the time. She travels constantly and has a billion instagram followers or something like that.”

“What made you guys come up here, though?”

“We both wanted to live in a city again, not a suburb of one, but San Francisco was just insanely expensive. And my work was opening up an office in Portland. We’d both visited before at different times and we liked it.”

Fuck it, Amethyst had to ask. “You and Lapis, uh, are you, like, a thing?”

Peridot blinked in confusion, then laughed. “No. Oh god, no. Lapis is not my type at all, and I’m not hers. She’s got a ship in every port, so to speak, and is never serious with any of them, and I’m way nerdier than her usual. I mean, she’s not picky in terms of gender, but she definitely likes’em looking more like models than software engineers. We make good roommates and friends but that's all."

Amethyst smiled and took another drink before asking, "So...what is your type? If it's not your roommate."

Peridot started picking the label off her beer bottle. "Hard to describe. I mean physically, I've dated all types of women, but I do tend towards, um, curvier. I was attracted to you the moment I saw you."

"I noticed."

"I know you did." Peridot smiled up at her through her eyelashes before going back to picking at the label.

"But non-physically...It's not a list of qualities and more, I don't know, a sense of being interested in life. It's less about what you're into, just that there is something out there that you're passionate about and find meaning in. At work I often end up meeting people whose lives are just their jobs. And I really like my job, I’m good at it; but it's not my entire life. And you like your job and where you work, but you also like singing and painting and you care about your friends and your dog and you have a ton of books. You were excited to show me the library! I liked that."

Amethyst didn't know what to say. For once she was the one blushing. So she took another drink.

“Anyway Lapis is just not into relationships. Her current lifestyle allows her to date people all over the world and not be tied down by any of them, and she prefers it that way, but I don’t.”

Peridot emptied the last of her bottle and put it on the table, label half torn off, before turning to face Amethyst on the couch. "Your turn. What's your type?"

"I like nice asses. Yours is fantastic."

This had the intended effect of making Peridot laugh. "Thanks? But I assume there's more to it than that, or you wouldn't have asked me out on a date."

Amethyst resisted the urge to squirm under Peridot's question. Saying _I like girls who like me enough to put up with me for a while_ was a shit answer and she knew it. It wasn't even the entire truth.

"I dunno. You're just so...open? Like, I could ask you almost anything right now, and you'd probably just tell me unless there was a really good reason not to. You're not closed off or hiding behind a facade. You're just who you are."

"And do you normally date women like that?"

"Ah, I don't think I have a 'normal.' Should I get us both another beer from the fridge?"

"Yeah, but you should try the Fort George this time."

"Sure.”

 

*****

 

It was clear the question had made Amethyst uncomfortable, and Peridot frowned at herself. Amethyst came back with the beers and she changed the subject.

“So that book of art you bought, who was it about?”

“Alphonse Mucha! Have you heard of him?”

“I don’t know. Show me and I’ll see if I recognize anything.”

Amethyst put her beer on the table and got the book, sitting down on the couch and opening it on her lap. “This book is just his advertising work. He did a lot of print ads, for everything from plays to bicycles, around the turn of the last century.”

“Oh, I’ve seen some of these before.” Peridot moved close enough that their thighs touched, and they paged through it together, skimming the descriptions and looking at each page as they sipped their beers. Amethyst’s eyes lit up as she talked about the art, pointing out things Peridot wouldn’t have noticed on her own.

“This isn’t the way you paint.” The swoops and swirls of Mucha’s Art Nouveau had little in common with the few things Peridot had seen in the basement, or the album of her paintings on facebook.

“Nah, I go more for portraits where I’ve turned people into fantasy creatures or something. I like doing them and they sell. I dunno how many people I’ve painted as fairies and vampires and stuff. It’s fun to just paint someone in their normal clothes but like, as a werewolf.”

“Or turning Tiger the dog into a helicopter.”

“Yup. I should have prints made of that one; so many people like it.”

Peridot took a deep breath. “The only other finished painting I saw in the basement just looked like just a normal portrait though. The tall woman with red hair and a pink dress.”

Amethyst was looking down, her bangs hiding part of her face. The book was open to a poster of a woman wrapped in sheer fabric holding up a glass, advertising absinthe. “Yeah. That one in the basement is Rose. It used to be in her and Pearl’s room. I dunno what to do with it now.”

“It’s really beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Amethyst absentmindedly ran her hands over the edges of the pages of the book.

“What happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell me. If you don’t want to.” Somewhere there was a line between nosy and supportive, and Peridot wasn’t sure where it was.

Amethyst took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s a long story, honestly.

“Pearl and Rose met in high school, in Iowa. They told me they were both in the fencing club when they fell in love. Pearl’s family was super religious and awful, so they hid that they were dating. They saved up a little money from their part-time jobs, and right after they graduated high school they left and ended up here. I’m actually pretty sure Pearl wasn’t even eighteen yet, I’ve done the math.

“They met Garnet not long after that, and they all lived in the same place for a few years, but then I met them at Portland State and we moved into our current place just before I started my last year. They were pretty good roommates, and you know how it is, it’s hard to find people you really get along with as roommates, but...Rose was amazing. She just liked everyone and it was so easy to like her back, and she was so fun to be around. She liked listening to you and making you feel better if you were down on yourself. I’ve never met anyone like her. I dunno if I would have finished school without her encouraging me, or started selling my paintings after I graduated.

“But. Hah. Rose was, um, bi and not great at monogamy? Plenty of bi people are, don’t get me wrong, but she wasn’t. I mean in theory her and Pearl had an agreement, but it feels like everyone knew Pearl only agreed because she was terrified Rose would leave otherwise. Everyone but Rose, it seems like, knew Pearl would do nearly anything to stay with Rose. I dunno. It wasn’t my business, y’know?

“Anyway. Rose met a guy at a show, in May. His name was Greg, and he technically lived at the coast but they started seeing each other a lot, and he was over at our house all the time, and he was fun to hang out with. I liked his music. He had nice hair.”

Amethyst took another slow breath. “And then Rose found out she was pregnant, last summer.”

“Oh, shit.”

“‘Oh, shit’ is right. It was...it was really awful. Pearl and Rose were arguing all the time. And then Rose moved out. She hasn’t spoken to any of us since. She lives out at the coast now, in Seaside. With Greg. And that’s, that’s basically the whole thing, I guess.”

Amethyst sniffed. A tear fell onto the open book with an audible sound in the quiet room. Amethyst wiped it off the page with the hem of her sleeve.

Peridot had no idea what to do. “I’m sorry.”

Amethyst looked up at her. Her eyes were red and she was trying not to cry and failing; she was blinking hard and breathing slowly and sniffed again. Tears ran down her face and threatened to drip off her chin.

They sat there for several seconds, just looking at each other. Peridot reached forward and carefully wiped the tears off one cheek, then the other.

Amethyst grabbed her hand and kissed her; gentle at first, then fiercely. Amethyst’s other arm wrapped around Peridot’s waist, pulling her in the last few inches. The book slid the floor with a thump.

Was this a good idea? Peridot wasn’t sure. But Amethyst’s kisses were so insistent, making Peridot go soft and open. Amethyst let go of Peridot’s hand and held the back of Peridot’s neck as if she was afraid Peridot would pull away. Not a chance, not with Amethyst moving so Peridot was flat on her back on the couch. Peridot moved a leg to let Amethyst between them and wrapped them around Amethyst’s hips as she started a steady rocking against her, and Peridot made little noises into their kisses. Peridot reached down to Amethyst’s ass, trying to pull her in harder. But it wasn’t enough, and she felt like she could die from wanting.

Amethyst moved back a little and Peridot whined, but Amethyst was shoving Peridot’s top and bra up out of the way, tonguing a nipple and giving it a hard suck before switching sides, making Peridot’s back arch and her feet kick.

Amethyst’s hand paused on the waistband of Peridot’s jeans, and she looked up.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes, _please.”_

She unbuttoned and unzipped Peridot’s jeans, then grabbed the waist of them and her underwear together. Peridot angled up her hips just enough for Amethyst to pull them both off over her ass in one go and then dropped them to the floor. Amethyst pulled her hair elastic out, then bent over to kiss Peridot’s stomach. Her hair fell everywhere and tickled Peridot’s sides.

Amethyst’s kisses trailed further down, and Peridot ran her hands through the hair spread out across her, combing it all to one side and making Amethyst shiver. Amethyst slid to sit on the floor and grabbed Peridot’s hips, pulling until half her ass and one leg were off the couch. Peridot hooked that leg over Amethyst’s shoulder, just as Amethyst’s mouth met Peridot’s sex, and Peridot swore and then whimpered as Amethyst sucked and licked, then she reached down and grabbed a handful of hair. She tugged and Amethyst grunted.

Peridot was almost dizzy from becoming aroused so quickly, all the blood in her brain having vacated for other locations, and Amethyst was letting Peridot all but ride her face as she pulled Amethyst’s hair and whimpered.

Under the leg that was over Amethyst’s shoulder she felt movement, and she looked down and saw Amethyst’s arm moving, her dress bunched around her waist and her leggings pushed down: Amethyst was masturbating with her face between Peridot’s legs. The sight was enough to tip Peridot over the edge, shouting and shaking. Peridot caught her breath, and Amethyst pulled back just enough to rest her face on Peridot’s thigh, mouth and chin still wet, and prevented from retreating further by Peridot’s hand in her hair.

“I wanna see your face when you come, please let me see you,” Amethyst’s eyes were closed, her expression a picture of concentration, but she took in another sharp breath at Peridot’s words. Her brows knit together, arm moving faster, and then she was groaning, mouth open, her eyes open just enough to look at Peridot as she came.

 

*****

 

The endorphins were starting to fade away, and as Peridot let go of Amethyst’s hair and let her foot slide to the floor, Amethyst’s heart rate went back up, but in fear. Shit. Shit. She pulled her leggings on all the way and sat down and pulled her knees up and ran a hand through her hair, but she couldn’t look at Peridot.

Peridot reached next to Amethyst to grab her underwear and stepped into them and pulled her bra and top back into place, before sitting on the floor next to Amethyst, her legs still bare and their sides touching.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I mean no. I don’t know?” Just admitting it was somehow both terrifying and a relief.

Peridot was quiet for a moment, before saying, “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Amethyst finally looked over, a little startled. Peridot was nibbling her lip and looking at her.

“I mean, obviously you’re grieving your friend. You have every right to be upset and sad. And of course we can talk about it more if you want to. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with just wanting a little distraction and comfort, too, even if that takes the form of sex.”

“I guess.”

But Peridot’s serious expression turned to smirking. “Also, I did invite you over hoping we’d have sex at least once.”

Amethyst’s eyebrows went up. “At least?”

“Psht. It was twice last time. Pardon me for being optimistic,” Peridot said in a playful tone.

She couldn’t help laughing at that. “Okay, good point.”

“What did you want to do now? I mean we can talk more if you want to, but I did see you looking at the games earlier.”

“I bet I could kick your ass at Mario Kart.”

“Hah! You’re on.”

 

Hours flew by after that, switching games and grabbing more beers, laughing and joking around, until they were both too tipsy and drowsy to keep going, and Amethyst suggested they go to bed.

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t wanna,” Amethyst yawned.

“I think I’m too sleepy anyway. Lemme get us some water, at least.”

Glass in hand, Amethyst followed Peridot down the hall.

Peridot opened her door and slapped at the wall until she found the light switch. Amethyst glanced up and did a nearly comical double-take before giggling.

“What?”

“You nerd!” Peridot’s room wasn’t huge but it was fairly clean and well-organized: her bed made up with a green comforter, the floor clear, the closet doors closed. But the entire wall behind the headboard of her bed was covered in small framed posters: fan art of TV shows, movies, and books, most of which Amethyst recognized. Some of them were a little risque. A small handful were outright pornographic.

“Did you commission these?!”

“Um, some of them. Mostly the porn. Some I bought online, or off their tables at cons.”

“It looks like tumblr exploded on that wall.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Amethyst noticed other details of Peridot’s room, now that she was looking. Several pushpins in the wall near her dresser were covered in con badges still hanging from their lanyards. A styrofoam head on the dresser held a wig.

“Damn. You’re like. Dedicated to this.”

“Is that a problem?” Peridot’s eyebrows went up, but then so did her shirt, over her head.

“No, of course it isn’t.” Amethyst was just intoxicated enough to openly watch Peridot undress as she finished her glass of water. The view was nice.

“I, uh, don’t have anything for you to sleep in.”

“I’ll be fine sleeping in just my undies.”

“Then I will, too.”

Water glasses were set aside, Peridot’s glasses were put down next to them, and after some kisses, they both fell asleep.  

 

 

Amethyst slowly floated awake to find Peridot spooned up behind her, rubbing one of her legs on Amethyst’s and kissing the back of her neck. Amethyst made a humming sound of pleasure, and Peridot stroked a hand over every part of Amethyst she could reach. Amethyst pressed back against Peridot, wanting to increase their contact, but it wasn’t enough. She wiggled out of her undies, moved her top leg behind Peridot’s, then grabbed her hand to suck on her fingers for a moment, before pulling them down to between her legs, guiding Peridot's fingers to where she wanted them, demonstrating how she liked to be touched.

It was easier in the low light of the early morning, facing away, with sleep still clinging to her edges. Easier to turn her head and accept Peridot's kisses, grab her own breasts, pant into Peridot's mouth, wind up tighter and tighter until she came, just barely, a short fluttering that only left her more aroused than before.

Peridot started to pull her hand away and Amethyst made a sound and grabbed her wrist, harder than she meant to. Amethyst whispered, "I want--I think I can--again--"

"Yeah?" She sounded thrilled.

Amethyst forced the words out. “Yeah, I mean, if you, if you really want to, with your mouth--"

"Oh god, yes," and Peridot kissed her mouth before starting to move down. Amethyst lay flat on her back, pushed the covers down and off with her feet, threw her arms over her face, opened her legs and bent her knees to allow Peridot between them.

How long it had it been since she'd let someone do this for her? She didn't know, and it didn't matter, because Peridot was so eager, gently opening her up, using her mouth in much the same way she'd just used her fingers. Amethyst knew she was making a lot of noise but was too far gone to care anymore, her awareness shrunk down to where Peridot's mouth was, Peridot's own small noises. Her second orgasm was approaching slower but so much stronger than the first one, keeping her on a plateau for an almost torturous age before reaching the point of no return.

"Oh jesus, Peri! I, fuck!" She felt a moment of something bordering on panic as she tensed and started coming so hard she ached, wave after wave of it, until she was wrung out, limp and shaky, and Peridot crawled back up to lay beside her.

Amethyst wrapped an arm around Peridot and kissed her neck, just breathing quietly for a few moments, before whispering into her ear, “So. How would you like me to return the favor?”

“Mmmm, I want to come from your fingers in me.” This time she was the one pushing her undies off and pulling Amethyst’s hand down before throwing a leg over Amethyst's hip. Holy fuck, Peridot was wet, her labia swollen and sensitive--at the first touch, Peridot gasped and her whole body convulsed.

“Holy shit, do you normally get this excited from getting someone else off?”

“Sometimes.”

Amethyst pushed two in, watching Peridot’s face go slack.

“Oh, fuck yes, but you can use more.”

She pulled out before adding another, then curved them up, watching Peridot’s whole body tense and relax. Peridot grabbed one of the slats of the headboard in one hand and Amethyst’s wrist in the other and pushed down hard onto her hand, trying to get more pressure where she wanted it.

Amethyst soon just let Peridot take over, and Peridot fucked herself on Amethyst’s hand, babbling almost nonsensically the whole time: “Oh yes, right there, oh my god, right there, yes, oh, Amethyst, ah, ah, _ah!_ ” Amethyst moved her thumb to Peridot’s clit, slick against the side of it, and Peridot clamped down hard, shouting and soaking Amethyst’s hand, and squeezing Amethyst’s wrist hard enough to hurt. Peridot let go and relaxed, shivering several times.

Amethyst sat up, wet starting to run down her arm. Peridot giggled weakly. “Whoops. We should have grabbed a towel. There’s one on the top of the laundry basket over there.” Amethyst brought it back after cleaning herself up, and Peridot half-heartedly wiped at herself, then the sheets. “I’ll have you know I washed these yesterday.”

Amethyst flopped back down on the bed, now a total disaster: duvet half on the floor and now a wet spot. “Looks like you’ll have to do it again.”

“That’s fine. Later.” She yawned. “I just wanna go back to sleep for a little longer, you?”

“Mmm. Yeah.” She sat up and made some order of the bedding before pulling it up and spooning Peridot, who was out almost immediately. Lucky. Amethyst listened to Peridot’s breathing and relaxed into the moment and soon slipped back to sleep too.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure the apartments over Salt and Straw aren't flats, but how many people reading this have spent time staring at the apartments over Salt and Straw? Also every human version of Peridot I ever write is going to have the same taste in beer that I do.
> 
> I actually wrote the most ridiculous amount of backstory for this fic that never made it in--even with so much of this chapter being an info-dump. For instance, I never said Rose was in college for nursing and worked as an RN after that, and I never got around to working in that Peridot is half Chinese-American. Pages and pages of backstory, y'all. 
> 
> I did find out there's a "Studio of American Fencing" in Portland, and because Portland is often called the Rose City, their building's front sign has a fencing foil surrounded by roses. If that's not the most Pearl thing ever....
> 
> I had a lot of loose plans for this fic, like "Peridot tries cannabis for the first time and is incredibly giggly," and "Amethyst is scandalized to find out Peridot can't ride a bicycle and insists on teaching her in time for the World Naked Bike Ride," and "Peridot rents a car and drives them both to the Oregon coast, and they go somewhere that definitely isn't Seaside." Seaside is the coastal town that's the shortest drive from Portland--it's also the closest thing Oregon has to Beach City in my opinion, as it's got a lot of cutesy/run-down tourist stuff and it's a popular spot for families. (I prefer Manzanita or Oceanside or Newport myself.)
> 
> .....never say never.


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